Abstract
Environmental uncertainty is a multi-dimensional construct composed of state, effect and response uncertainty. An individual experience uncertainty, if he/she does not feel confident on predicting the organization’s environment. Although importance to environmental uncertainty and its types has been given in many researches, understanding on the different level of perception of uncertainty by different entrepreneurs has been investigated by limited scholars. The goal of this thesis is to shed more light on the field of entrepreneurship and uncertainty. This study, specifically, explores why entrepreneurs differs in term of how the environmental uncertainty is perceived. The role of entrepreneurs’ prior experience is investigated by taking semi-structured in-depth interview with entrepreneurs in Norwegian startup. The research is qualitative in nature and is based on case studies of seven Startups. The findings suggest that the entrepreneurs’ prior- experience plays a vital role in managing uncertainties. Experienced entrepreneurs were found to perceive less uncertainty than inexperienced entrepreneurs. Among the three types of prior-experience, work and business experiences were seen more influential to uncertainty. Moreover, the result also suggests that while education plays a role in shaping state uncertainty, effect and response uncertainty remains unaffected by the education.