Portrait of Ruben Van Werven

Ruben Van Werven

Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship

Bayes Business School , Faculty of Management

Contact

About

Overview

Ruben van Werven is a Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass). Prior to joining Bayes, he was an assistant professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where he also wrote his PhD thesis.

In his research, Ruben studies the early stages of setting up various types of entrepreneurial ventures: new high-tech firms, new social enterprises, or new church plants. He is particulary interested in the role language plays in the process of new venture creation, and has therefore analysed elevator pitches, conversations between entrepreneurs and mentors or investors, and startup names.

Ruben teaches early-stage startup entrepreneurship as well as entrepreneurship in corporate settings, to both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Employment

  • Lecturer in Entrepreneurship, Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), United Kingdom, September 2016 - present

Languages

Dutch; Flemish (can read, write, speak, understand spoken, peer review)

Expertise

Primary topics

  • Entrepreneurship

Additional topics

  • Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management
  • Venture Capital

Research

Research topics

Convincing investors to fund a new venture

Studying the communicative practices of entrepreneurs during the process of resource acquisition

Entrepreneurs and third-party feedback

Examining how entrepreneurs respond to the feedback they receive from third parties, such as mentors in business incubators

Publications

Chapter

  1. van Werven, R., Parker, S. and Nigam, A. Backed by God or backed by evidence? How institutional assumptions within the Church of England changed through debate. Moving beyond the microfoundations and macrofoundations of institutions: A cross-level linguistic perspective Emerald Publishing.

Conference paper and proceedings

Journal articles (6)

  1. van Werven, R. (2024). Entrepreneurship in religious organizations: How the Church of England developed an entrepreneurial orientation. Small Business Economics, 62(4), pp. 1361-1382. doi:10.1007/s11187-023-00841-8

    [publisher’s website]

  2. van Werven, R., Cornelissen, J. and Bouwmeester, O. (2023). The Relational Dimension of Feedback Interactions: A Study of Early Feedback Meetings Between Entrepreneurs and Potential Mentors. British Journal of Management, 34(2), pp. 873-897. doi:10.1111/1467-8551.12615

    [publisher’s website]

  3. Engel, Y., van Werven, R. and Keizer, A. (2022). How novice and experienced entrepreneurs name new ventures. Journal of Small Business Management, 60(4), pp. 828-858. doi:10.1080/00472778.2020.1738820

    [publisher’s website]

  4. van Werven, R., Bouwmeester, O. and Cornelissen, J.P. (2019). Pitching a business idea to investors: How new venture founders use micro-level rhetoric to achieve narrative plausibility and resonance. International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, 37(3), pp. 193-214. doi:10.1177/0266242618818249

    [publisher’s website]

  5. van Werven, R., Bouwmeester, O. and Cornelissen, J.P. (2015). The power of arguments: How entrepreneurs convince stakeholders of the legitimate distinctiveness of their ventures. Journal of Business Venturing, 30(4), pp. 616-631. doi:10.1016/j.jbusvent.2014.08.001

    [publisher’s website]

  6. Bouwmeester, O. and van Werven, R. (2011). Consultants as legitimizers: exploring their rhetoric. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 24(4), pp. 427-441. doi:10.1108/09534811111144601

    [publisher’s website]

Professional activities

Events/conferences (10)

  1. EGOS Colloquium. (Conference) Amsterdam (2021).
    Paper: Selling yourself or getting to know the other? How entrepreneurs approach speed dates with investors
    Author: Van Werven, R.
    Co-authors: Palmieri, R.; Giudici, A.
  2. EGOS Colloquium. (Conference) Hamburg (2020).
    Paper: Using profane means to achieve religious ends: Entrepreneurship in and around the Anglican Church
    Author: Van Werven, R.
  3. EGOS Colloquium. (Conference) Edinburgh (2019).
    Paper: Taking a stance: How entrepreneurs create expectations for the future of a new venture
    Author: Van Werven, R.
    Co-authors: Cornelissen, J.P.; Bouwmeester, O.; Gregoire, D.A.
  4. EGOS Colloquium. (Conference) Tallinn (2018).
    Paper: Knowledge transfer in business incubators: The dynamic and evolving nature of advice-giving interactions between mentors and entrepreneurs
    Author: Van Werven, R.
    Co-authors: Cornelissen, J.P.; Bouwmeester, O.
  5. EGOS Colloquium. (Conference) Copenhagen (2017).
    Paper: Establishing legitimacy in a fragmented institutional environment: How entrepreneurs justify a new venture’s activities to different audiences
    Author: Van Werven, R.
    Co-authors: Palmieri, R.; Giudici, A.
  6. EGOS Colloquium. (Conference) Naples, Italy (2016).
    Paper: Achieving narrative plausibility and resonance: A study of the micro-level arguments underlying entrepreneurial narratives
    Author: van Werven R
    Co-authors: Bouwmeester, O., and Cornelissen, J.P.
  7. Academy of Management Conference. (Conference) Anaheim, US (2016).
    Paper: New venture founder's responses to third-party feedback
    Author: van Werven R
    Co-authors: Cornelissen, J.P., and Bouwmeester, O.
  8. EGOS Colloquium. (Conference) (2014).
    Paper: Enacting and selling an unpredictable future: A study of how new venture founders combine multiple roles for action
    Author: Van Werven R
    Co-authors: Bouwmeest, O., and Cornelissen, J.P.
  9. Academy of Management Conference. (Conference) (2013).
    Paper: Stressing legitimacy or distinctiveness? The argumentation strategies of new firm founders
    Author: Van Werven R
    Co-authors: Bouwmeest, O., and Cornelissen, J.P.
  10. EGOS Colloquium. (Conference) (2012).
    Paper: Resource acquisition by nascent entrepreneurs: Communicating a legitimate identity
    Author: Van Werven R
    Co-authors: Bouwmeest, O., and Cornelissen, J.P.