Pauline Reinecke Receives the 2026 zfo Award for Young Researchers
2026-04-07 The assistant professor of business administration, specializing in strategic entrepreneurship, was honored along with her co-authors at the 85th VHB Conference in Göttingen with the zfo Award for Young Scholars from the Scientific Commission on Organization. The award was given for the paper “Hot Market, Cold Feet: Entrepreneurs’ Storytelling Between Public Enthusiasm and Investor Hesitation.”
The award-winning paper examines how entrepreneurs deal with conflicting reactions to innovative business ideas—particularly when these ideas address socially sensitive or, in some cases, taboo topics. In such markets, there is often a tension between public attention and enthusiasm (“hype”) and simultaneous reluctance or skepticism (“stigma”). The co-authors are Amanda Baum (Ph.D. candidate in the Data-Driven Innovation research group, TU Hamburg) and Prof. Dr. Moritz Göldner (Assistant Professor, Data-Driven Innovation research group, TU Hamburg).
Using the example of 30 companies in the rapidly growing German femtech market—that is, technologies related to women’s health—the study shows that this tension becomes particularly evident in conversations with investors. While topics in women’s health are receiving increasing public attention and positive reception, investors sometimes react with caution or uncertainty in direct conversations. For founders, therefore, how they communicate and position their business idea becomes crucial.
The researchers identify three key communication strategies (“storytelling approaches”) that founders use to overcome these challenges. The findings expand the entrepreneurship literature on storytelling, hype, and stigma and provide important practical guidance for founders, investors, and other innovation promoters.
In her research, Pauline Reinicke focuses on innovation, entrepreneurship, and the emergence of new markets, particularly in socially sensitive and transformative sectors.