The article revisits a foundational question: why do people create ventures when valuable ideas remain unused inside successful organisations? The knowledge spillover theory answers that entrepreneurs commercialise knowledge that firms and universities have created but not fully appropriated. The article shows how this logic has expanded into a broader theory of innovation that includes intrapreneurship, incumbent firms, digital transformation and ecosystem-wide knowledge dynamics.
What the article shows
Entrepreneurs remain central conduits through which underused knowledge is transformed into new products, services and organisations.
Knowledge creation and commercialisation now involve entrepreneurs, employees, incumbent firms, universities and ecosystem actors in interacting roles.
Future work needs a more integrated, multi-level and digitally informed account of how knowledge is created, transferred and recombined.
Implications for entrepreneurs
Look for knowledge that is valuable but underappreciated in existing organisations; unresolved internal ideas can be the basis of new ventures.
Use collaboration, licensing, spin-outs and employee entrepreneurship as alternative routes for commercialising knowledge.
Create organisational space for intrapreneurship so that promising ideas do not have to leave the firm to be developed.
Implications for policymakers
Reduce barriers to knowledge mobility, technology transfer, licensing and collaboration across organisational boundaries.
Reward universities and established firms for meaningful commercialisation and external impact, not only for knowledge creation.
Broaden innovation policy to include digital, employee-led and ecosystem-level pathways alongside conventional R&D programmes.
This plain-language summary was prepared with AI assistance from the published abstract and available article information. The published article is the authoritative source; practical and policy implications are interpretive.