This article explores the role and significance of marketing in the entrepreneurial process.Utilising an 11-year longitudinal study, supported by a context-rich interpretive approach, the interrelationship between marketing and entrepreneurship at different stages of the business life cycle are examined. Under an effectuation and enactment framework, entrepreneurship is neither ends-driven nor means-driven, but a consequence of the interplay between actors and social context through ongoing enactment. As the ‘joint core actors of the business’, entrepreneurs actively interact with their customers in shaping the marketing activities of the business to meet their ends.