#Balancetastartup: digital feminist activism and backlash in entrepreneurial ecosystems

Purpose This study investigates how backlash mechanisms operate to delegitimise digital feminist activism that contests dominant entrepreneurial narratives within the French start-up ecosystem. It analyses the challenges faced by the #BalanceTaStartUp (“Expose your start-up”) movement, the first feminist activist movement to explicitly denounce systemic gendered and racialised inequalities within this ecosystem. Design/methodology/approach This study employs a netnographic approach (Kozinets, 2010, 2015) to analyse the exchanges and interactions of the #BalanceTaStartUp Instagram community between 2020 and 2024. Netnography is particularly appropriate for the study of online communities that support marginalised or at-risk groups, where anonymity is crucial. Findings This study illustrates how digital feminist activism, backlash and myth maintenance intersect within entrepreneurial ecosystems. It identifies three backlash mechanisms – othering, silencing and trivialising – aimed at delegitimising the activist movement and limiting its reach. It shows that the constitution of an activist movement and the social imaginary it defends is a shifting, uncertain phenomenon with no predefined trajectory. Originality/value The study highlights the delegitimising mechanisms that appear when deviant forms of management in the entrepreneurial world are contested. It thus contributes to a deeper understanding of the intersectional power relations that shape working conditions in start-ups and sustain the entrepreneurial myth, and how they hinder transformation towards more inclusive practices.