Entrepreneurs can create a better tomorrow: The relationship between entrepreneurial grit, nonfinancial success, and societal impact

Entrepreneurial grit, defined as passion and perseverance for long-term goals, has repeatedly been linked to higher venture performance.In this paper, we theorize that higher levels of grit may also lead to more nonfinancial success and stronger societal impact for entrepreneurs and that anxiety is a negative moderator in these relationships.We test our model among 1,398 German entrepreneurs in a broad range of industries and find support for our hypotheses.We contribute by uncovering grit as a novel determinant for the nonfinancial success measures of personal fulfillment and workplace relationships, as well as for societal impact, and by shedding light on the role of negative emotions as attenuators in these relationships.