Written Communication Oct 2018 Open Access

Articulating Problems and Markets: A Translation Analysis of Entrepreneurs’ Emergent Value Propositions

Clay Spinuzzi The University of Texas at Austin ; David Altounian The University of Texas at Austin ; Gregory Pogue ; Robert Cochran ; Lily Zhu The University of Texas at Austin

Abstract

In this qualitative study, the authors apply Callon’s sociology of translation to examine how new technology entrepreneurs enact material arguments that involve the first two moments of translation—problematization (defining a market problem) and interessement (defining a market and the firm’s relationship to it)—which in turn are represented in a claim, the value proposition. That emergent claim can then be represented and further changed during pitches. If accepted, it can then lead to the second two moments of translation: enrollment and mobilization. Drawing on written materials, observations, and interviews, we trace how these value propositions were iterated along three paths to better problematize and interesse, articulating a problem and market on which a business could plausibly be built. We conclude by discussing implications for understanding value propositions in entrepreneurship and, more broadly, using the sociology of translation to analyze emergent, material, consequential arguments.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2018-10-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088318786235
CompPile
Open Access
OA PDF Green
Topics
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation context

Cited by in this index (11)

  1. Pellegrini (2026)
    Pitching as Dialogue: The Development of Entrepreneurial Ventures Through Itera…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  2. Spinuzzi (2026)
    Testing the Battery: How a Startup’s Design Objects Cohere as a Fractional Object
    Written Communication
  3. Godoy et al. (2026)
    Revising the Problem Statement in Startups’ Pitch Decks: What Do Changes Tell U…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. DeJeu (2023)
    The Topoi of Small Business Entrepreneurship
    Written Communication
  5. Sabaj et al. (2023)
    “The Basis of Aaaalll of Our Program!” The Start-Up Chile Playbook as Metagenre
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Show all 11 →
  1. Spinuzzi et al. (2023)
    Linked but Desynched: An OODA Analysis of Associated Entrepreneurship Accelerat…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Gogan et al. (2022)
    Emotion, Rhetoric, and Entrepreneurial Experience: A Survey of Start-Up Communi…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Fraiberg (2021)
    Introduction to Special Issue on Innovation and Entrepreneurship Communication …
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Cabezas et al. (2020)
    Editing the Pitch: Patterns of Editing Strategies of Written Pitches in a Chile…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  5. Read (2020)
    How to Build a Supercomputer: U.S. Research Infrastructure and the Documents Th…
    Written Communication
  6. Spinuzzi et al. (2020)
    Go or No Go: Learning to Persuade in an Early-Stage Student Entrepreneurship Program
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication

References (37) · 10 in this index

  1. 10.1142/S1363919602000550
     ↗
  2. 10.1142/S1363919602000562
     ↗
  3. 10.1016/j.indmarman.2010.06.032
     ↗
  4. 10.1177/1470593106066795
     ↗
  5. Belinsky et al. (2016)
    Throwing a Change-Up, Pitching a Strike: An Autoethnography of Frame Acquisitio…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Show all 37 →
  1. Callon M. (1986)
    Power, action and belief: A new sociology of knowledge?
  2. 10.4135/9781452230153
     ↗
  3. Galbraith et al. (2014)
    The Impact of Presentation Form, Entrepreneurial Passion, and Perceived Prepare…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. 10.7208/chicago/9780226264196.001.0001
     ↗
  5. 10.1108/03090561111095702
     ↗
  6. 10.1080/0267257X.2012.736875
     ↗
  7. Lanning M. J. (1988)
    A business is a delivery system
  8. Latour B. (1987)
    Science in action: How to follow scientists and engineers through society
  9. Latour B. (1996)
    Aramis, or the love of technology
  10. Latour B. (2006)
    Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor-network-theory
  11. London N. (2015)
    Proceedings of IEEE professional communication society international professional communi…
  12. Lucas et al. (2016)
    Communicating Entrepreneurial Passion: Personal Passion vs. Perceived Passion i…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  13. 10.1177/0276146710397369
     ↗
  14. Lynch P. (2015)
    Thinking with Bruno Latour in rhetoric and composition
  15. 10.1145/1621995.1622053
     ↗
  16. Miles M. B. (2014)
    Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook
  17. Moore G. A. (1991)
    Crossing the chasm: Marketing and selling high-tech products to mainstream customers
  18. Osterwalder A. (2010)
    Business model generation: A handbook for visionaries, game changers, and challengers
  19. 10.1109/IPCC.2016.7740539
     ↗
  20. Potts (2009)
    Using Actor Network Theory to Trace and Improve Multimodal Communication Design
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  21. Propen et al. (2010)
    Understanding Genre through the Lens of Advocacy: The Rhetorical Work of the Vi…
    Written Communication
  22. Read et al. (2015)
    Visualizing and Tracing: Research Methodologies for the Study of Networked, Soc…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  23. Saldaña J. (2013)
    The coding manual for qualitative researchers
  24. 10.1007/s11747-013-0365-2
     ↗
  25. 10.1016/j.technovation.2015.11.001
     ↗
  26. Spinuzzi (2010)
    Secret Sauce and Snake Oil: Writing Monthly Reports in a Highly Contingent Envi…
    Written Communication
  27. Spinuzzi C. (2015)
    Proceedings of the 33rd ACM international conference on Design of communication
  28. Spinuzzi C., Jakobs E., Pogue G. (2016). A good idea is not enough: Understanding the challenges of entrepren…
  29. Swarts (2010)
    Recycled Writing: Assembling Actor Networks From Reusable Content
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  30. Swarts (2011)
    Technological Literacy as Network Building
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  31. Swarts (2016)
    Composing Networks: Writing Practices on Mobile Devices
    Written Communication
  32. 10.7208/chicago/9780226450834.001.0001
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 24 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related articles

  1. Rhetoric Society Quarterly Aug 2026
    Environmental Preservation and the Grey Cliffs Conflict: Negotiating Common Narratives, Values, and Ethos: by Kristin D. Pickering, UP of Colorado, 2024, 268 pp., $33.95 (paperback), ISBN: 978-1-64642-575-4 ↗
    Nathan D. Wood
    argument qualitative research
  2. Argumentation Jul 2026
    Arguments and Proto-arguments in Multimodal Protest ↗
    Lotte van Poppel; Jan Albert van Laar
    argument qualitative research multimodality
  3. Assessing Writing Jul 2026
    Developing a rating scale for written intralinguistic mediation in a local context ↗
    Caroline Shackleton; Nathan Turner; Adolfo Sánchez Cuadrado
    assessment qualitative research
  4. Written Communication Mar 2026
    Faculty and Administrator Perceptions of Interdisciplinary Collaborative Writing: Practices, Challenges, and Support Structures ↗
    Stephen Carradini; Ed Nagelhout
    collaborative writing professional writing labor and working conditions qualitative research
  5. Argumentation Mar 2026
    Is a Contradiction Between Arguments Less Likely to be Noticed When They are Implicit? An Experimental Case Study ↗
    Edoardo Lombardi Vallauri
    argument qualitative research social media