From breakdowns to breakthroughs: how startup support organizations build resilience

Purpose This study investigates how startup support organizations (SSOs) build resilience when triggered by entrepreneurial failure (EF). While prior research on EF and resilience has largely centered on entrepreneurs and startups, little is known about how intermediaries process EF among supported ventures and convert these experiences into resilience capabilities. We address this gap because of the centrality of SSOs in entrepreneurial ecosystems, where individual EFs can be transformed into resilience. Design/methodology/approach We employ a flexible pattern matching approach, combining theory-driven expectations with inductive analysis. Data stem from 77 semi-structured interviews with professionals across European SSOs (Nov 2024–Oct 2025). The study followed the Gioia approach augmented with grounded theory techniques, investigator triangulation, and theoretical memoing to saturation. Findings EF triggers three resilience-building stages in SSOs: (1) proactive support (sensing, preparing, scanning) before EF; (2) acute safety net (orchestrating, improvising, operationalizing) during EF; and (3) continuous encouragement (reflecting, transforming, capturing) after EF. Social capital (SC) enables its mechanisms through relational ties. Research limitations/implications This study uses a cross-sectional European sample, limiting causal inference. Future longitudinal, multilevel studies should examine how SSO mechanisms and SC ties translate into tenant resilience. Practical implications Our findings suggest that SSOs can build resilience by deliberately managing EF and SC across all three stages, providing practical evidence for SSOs, tenant startups, and entrepreneurial networks. Originality/value We shift the lens from preventing EF to working through it, offering a mechanism-level, capability-based account of SSO resilience.