Circularity and Resilience in Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Times of Crisis

Despite recent efforts to bridge the circular economy and entrepreneurship, and to explore resilience in entrepreneurial ecosystems, the ways in which startups' circularity orientations influence how they build resilience in times of crisis remain unclear. Drawing on the adaptive cycle model from complexity and panarchy theories, this study employs qualitative case research on four circular and four linear startups operating within the built environment sector and belonging to the same entrepreneurial ecosystem to investigate how they responded to the raw material crisis. The study examines startups' positions within the exploitation, conservation, release, and reorganization phases of the adaptive cycle in order to uncover distinct resilience trajectories. The findings suggest that circular startups nurtured and leveraged their ecosystems more actively than linear startups did, capitalizing on ecosystem relationships to strengthen innovation, adaptability, and system-wide resilience. In contrast, linear startups tended to withhold contributions and withdraw from ecosystem interactions, limiting collaboration and reducing their capacity to adapt and respond to crises. These findings advance understanding of how business model orientation shapes resilience trajectories within entrepreneurial ecosystems by identifying nurturing and leveraging as distinct mechanisms through which circular startups build firm- and ecosystem-level resilience during crises.