Entrepreneurship in the European creative industries is high on the agenda due to the potential for economic growth, societal prosperity, employment and sustainable competitiveness. However, entrepreneurial companies regularly run into the dilemma of how to grow from the creative, innovative and entrepreneurial start-up phase into the efficiency-oriented scaling phase. Growth potential is highly dependent on private investors or the public innovation system which tend to be oblivious to the type of entrepreneur known as the creative, artistic-based the innovative entrepreneur, as the characteristic traits of such an entrepreneurial firm often entail a fuzzy product portfolio, which is not easily distinguished from the creative personality of the entrepreneur. Using the case of the Danish fashion entrepreneur Justian Kunz,
whom we characterize as an innovative entrepreneur, we discuss entrepreneurial challenges in the creative industry as seen from within, arguing that revisiting the traditional ”growth paradigm”, so manifest by the established innovation support system, is paramount if the innovative entrepreneur is to survive the transition
phase.