Circular economy is everywhere in policy agendas and funding mandates. But the reality is that most incubators don’t know how to actually build circular entrepreneurs. They know how to build businesses. Circularity is different.

We learned this in Jordan with a U.S. Department of State funded circular economy incubation program targeting youth and Syrian refugees. The mandate we received from the donor required us to create ventures that turn waste into value. With the first cohort, three of four teams quit. One participant said her project felt “destined to fail.”

So, we asked ourselves: what did we do wrong?

Our study, published in the Journal of Business Venturing Insights, documents what happened next, and what we learned about making circular incubation actually work.

What went wrong the first time

We recruited entrepreneurs based on knowledge and experience, assigned them to specific waste sectors (textiles, e-waste) because that’s what the donor specified. We grouped strangers into teams based on complementary educational backgrounds, and we delivered lectures on circular economy principles.

The result wasn’t what we were aiming for. The entrepreneurs felt frustrated and boxed in, teams were not able to collaborate and their ideas never took off.

What we changed – and why it worked

For Cohort 2, we rebuilt the program from scratch based on stakeholder feedback from Cohort 1. Here’s what we did differently:

We screened for resourcefulness, not just credentials. We added interviews with scenario-based questions: What would you do with this pile of waste? We looked for bricolage, the ability to create from whatever’s at hand , and alertness to opportunities others miss. The inclusion of these traits in the recruitment process, predicted success better than just recruiting for business knowledge.

We opened the challenge. Instead of assigning sectors, we let entrepreneurs pursue any waste stream they cared about. Ownership replaced compliance, and passion replaced frustration.

We let teams form organically. Instead of forcing strangers together, we let people find collaborators who shared their obsession. Conflict dropped and cohesion rose.

We replaced lectures with tools. We taught life cycle assessment (LCA) and material flow analysis (MFA) as opportunity recognition skills, not technical content to memorize, but lenses to spot value in waste streams.

Five of eight Cohort 2 ventures survived. One founder launched a nonprofit alongside her business, employing women in textile upcycling.

The deeper lesson: Stakeholders must want things together

The changes emerged from a process of listening and negotiation among all stakeholders;  donors, incubator managers, and entrepreneurs themselves. Each group wanted different things: impact metrics, viable ventures, creative freedom. The program only worked when we stopped defending positions and started reconciling needs.

This is the real insight: circular incubation isn’t just about adding green content to existing programs. It requires a specific selection logic, different training methods, and a willingness to adapt through structured reflection.

Who should read the paper – and what to do next

Incubator managers: Redesign your selection process. Screen for bricolage and alertness. Use scenario-based interviews. Let entrepreneurs own their problem space.

Funders and policymakers: Build reflection points into your programs. Mandates don’t self-execute. Co-design with local partners and stay flexible.

Researchers: This study offers a model for participatory action research in incubation contexts and extends stakeholder theory to circular entrepreneurship.

The full paper provides detailed evidence, a comparative analysis of both cohorts, and a framework for circular incubation design. Read it if you’re serious about building programs that don’t just talk about circularity, but actually produce circular entrepreneurs.

📖 Read the full paper here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352673426000028

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Author bio

Israa Thiab is a PhD candidate in Sustainability at Rochester Institute of Technology, where she also served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Management. Her research examines circular entrepreneurship, incubation processes, and stakeholder co-creation in emerging markets. She brings 17 years of industry experience in sustainability strategy, and circular transformation.

Clyde Eiríkur Hull is a Professor in the Management Department in the Saunders College of Business at RIT, where he teaches such topics as Technology Strategy, Strategic Management, and Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics. He has published on topics in strategic management ranging from financial performance, corporate social responsibility and sustainability through innovation and entrepreneurship, including digital entrepreneurship and circular-economy entrepreneurship.