Abstract
This chapter explores the concept of “entrepreneurial legacy” or the family’s narrative reconstruction of past entrepreneurial achievements or resilience. The authors approach entrepreneurial legacy in business families as both multi-level and multi-temporal phenomena. They argue that business family members develop particular multi-temporal mindsets that enable them to navigate their family’s and firm’s history while making present and future-related decisions. They show that, in some situations, the legacy of the past can significantly constrain family members from innovating and transforming their businesses. To counter these situations, the authors use the concept of emancipation to explore the interplay of entrepreneurial legacy and entrepreneurial identities in business families. A visual narrative methodology is described for exploring how the past, present and future are made sense of among family business members and suggestions are offered for future research.