Curbing the Addition Bias: Scientific Approaches and Propensity to Subtract in Entrepreneurial Ideas

Aspiring entrepreneurs are often biased toward addition and undervalue subtraction when seeking to perform changes to their ideas. We theorize that adopting “scientific” approaches to entrepreneurial decision-making has positive effects on reducing this bias for entrepreneurs and increasing the likelihood of removing unneeded or less coherent components from their business idea. This is relevant because it could allow entrepreneurs to focus on the few elements that are really meaningful to develop their ventures, rather than on too many elements which create unmanageable complexity and waste. A randomized control trial experiment with 200 early-stage entrepreneurs shows empirical support that scientific approaches increase subtraction when developing a business idea.