It is a stylized fact that prospective entrepreneurs differ in how they proceed to found new firms. Interestingly, though, the literature on process-oriented entrepreneurship does not provide a theory on how national institutions influence the behaviour of prospective entrepreneurs. The proposed project seeks to close this gap. The analytical framework is derived from the literature on national institutions, including theories on the ‘market based view’, ‘national innovation systems’ and ‘varieties of capitalism’. These strands illustrate how institutional differences shape business practices of established firms. Extending these insights to prospective entrepreneurs, the project explores three hypotheses. 1) Rigid labour-market institutions increase the likelihood that potential entrepreneurs start new businesses out of necessity. 2) National institutions influence the order and timing in which business factors are acquired. 3) Institutional differences determine the ‘windows of opportunity’ during which prospective entrepreneurs need to have acquired necessary business factors, as they will otherwise give up their endeavour. To test these hypotheses, German and US inventors are interviewed who hold highly cited patents with commercial applicability in high-tech industries. The interviews will be analysed with ‘optimal matching techniques’ to reveal how national institutions shape the triggers, order, timing, and ‘windows of opportunities’ of firm foundation processes. The insights gained are of highest relevance to economic policy-makers, management scholars and political scientists alike. The combined research stays at Columbia University (New York, USA) and Utrecht University (Netherlands) offer a unique opportunity to complete the project by allowing me to gain new theoretical knowledge in entrepreneurship studies, to broaden my methodological skills, and to support Utrecht University in becoming a Europe-wide leader in ecological entrepreneurship research.