This paper examines a foundational question for emergent work on entrepreneurial passion: How do entrepreneurs evoke passion for their innovative ideas in others? We examine this question through a case study of the creative destruction that occurred within the superyacht industry starting in the late 1960s. Our qualitative analyses reveal multiple means by which individuals involved in acts of distributed entrepreneurship directly and indirectly arouse passion for their emancipatory endeavours in others. Direct means include linguistic devices, visual displays and dramatic performances. Indirect means include explicit choices regarding projects, actors and venues.

Jennifer E. Jennings (formerly Jennifer E. Cliff) is an Associate Professor at the Alberta School of Business, where she teaches courses on entrepreneurship, family enterprise and general management. Her research on women entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial storytelling, innovative versus imitative entrepreneurship, and the family embeddedness of entrepreneurial activity has been published in the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. She is a Field Editor for the Journal of Business Venturing and the Chair of the Membership Committee for the AoM Entrepreneurship Division. She received her PhD from the University of British Columbia and her B.Commerce from Carleton University.

P. Devereaux (Dev) Jennings is the Winspear Professor of Business at the Alberta School of Business, where he teaches strategy and organization theory. Dev is currently pursing research in three areas: environmental strategy and regulation, nanotechnology patents and high tech start-ups, and family business dynamics. His professional duties include Co-Editor of Strategic Organization, Field Editor for Journal of Business Venturing and editorial board membership on Administrative Science Quarterly. Over the years, his work with diverse co-authors has been published in Administrative Science Quarterly, the Academy of Management Journal, the Academy of Management Review, and the American Journal of Sociology. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. at Stanford University and his B.A. at Dartmouth College.