This study builds on the work of Schumpeter and others who have recognised the profound role of entrepreneurs in the formation of entirely new industries around technological innovation. With this in mind, it critically reviews diffusion research, finding this work to be lacking in its treatment of entrepreneurship and its ability to integrate the range of factors that affect diffusion dynamics. In an effort to address these theoretical gaps, the study draws on management literature on the early growth of the firm, which puts the entrepreneur at the centre of analysis, and integrates many of the concerns of the traditional diffusion analyst. The proposed analytical framework can be applied to future case studies of technology diffusion.