A critical challenge for entrepreneurship scholars is the need to develop a greater understanding of (1) how, when and why entrepreneurial networks emerge, develop and change over time and (2) how network evolution impacts on the entrepreneurial trajectory. This special issue of Entrepreneurship & Regional Development begins to address these challenges by presenting a range of current works that further increase our understanding about social network dynamics during the entrepreneurial process. We begin by connecting this special issue to some of the main challenges of the field of entrepreneurship. From this, we propose an integrative perspective required to move thinking forward. We then summarize how the diverse papers presented in this special issue contribute to opening up the research field further and help us develop a greater understanding about the challenges entrepreneurship scholars face. We conclude this article with lessons and suggestions for future research.