Research SummaryExtant studies suggest that a particular set of means, once in place, prompt entrepreneurs to enact effectual decision‐making. However, little is known about how such effectual means are developed, particularly when entrepreneurs' primary means are digital capital rather than pre‐existing effectual means. To address this gap, our qualitative research examines an emerging phenomenon in which young people engage in side‐hustling through social media. Our findings reveal that entrepreneurs develop effectual means by leveraging digital capital through browsing, consulting, and imitating. This developmental process is significantly streamlined by digital capital's generativity, recommendability, and multimodality, with its cost‐effectiveness dynamically assessed to determine the continuity of development. Drawing on these findings, we discuss implications for effectuation theory and entrepreneurship studies.Managerial SummaryEntrepreneurs are known to rely on their established means for effectual decision‐making. However, little is known about how entrepreneurs make effectual decisions when they possess digital capital but have underdeveloped means for effectuation. This study explores how young side‐hustlers on social media build means for effectuation through browsing, consulting, and imitating. The generativity, recommendability, and multimodality of digital capital significantly enhance this developmental process, while cost‐effectiveness is continuously assessed to determine whether to proceed. We develop a process model that illustrates how entrepreneurs leverage and optimize digital capital to drive effectuation in the digital age.

中文翻译：

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经济高效地利用数字资本开发有效决策的手段

研究摘要现存的研究表明，一套特定的手段一旦到位，就会促使企业家做出有效的决策。然而，人们对这种有效手段是如何发展的知之甚少，特别是当企业家的主要手段是数字资本而不是预先存在的有效手段时。为了解决这一差距，我们的定性研究考察了年轻人通过社交媒体从事副业的一种新兴现象。我们的研究结果表明，企业家通过浏览、咨询和模仿来利用数字资本来开发有效的手段。数字资本的生成性、可推荐性和多模式性大大简化了这一发展过程，并动态评估其成本效益以确定发展的连续性。利用这些发现，我们讨论了对效果理论和创业研究的意义。管理摘要众所周知，企业家依靠他们既定的手段来做出有效的决策。然而，当企业家拥有数字资本但实施手段不成熟时，他们如何做出有效的决策，人们知之甚少。本研究探讨了社交媒体上的年轻副业者如何通过浏览、咨询和模仿来构建实现目标。数字资本的生成性、可推荐性和多模式显著促进了这一发展过程，同时不断评估成本效益以确定是否继续进行。我们开发了一个流程模型，说明企业家如何利用和优化数字资本来推动数字时代的实现。