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Purpose: The present research focuses on an understudied field in the entrepreneurial process: the events that transform intention into effective entrepreneurial behavior. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper a comparative analysis, using the t-test on related samples, is made of the perceptions of these triggering events of a group of graduates who showed entrepreneurial intention in higher education but, up to now, had not taken the decision to start a business with those of a group who had started a business. To do this, a sample of 227 graduates from a medium-sized European University located in Spain, with manifest entrepreneurial intention was used. Findings: The results show that there are important differences between perceptions of entrepreneurship triggering events of potential entrepreneurs who have yet to start a company compared to entrepreneurs who have actually started a company. In this sense, the overevaluation by those who have not yet become entrepreneurs of events related to access to finance and the greater relevance for those with entrepreneurial experience of having a good team and contacts consisting of other entrepreneurs, mentors and advisers stand out. Research limitations/implications: Some of the limitations observed in this work are related to the size of the sample analyzed. In the future, the study should be broadened, and different entrepreneurial behavior by academic specialization, gender, sector and/or type of activities should be investigated. Originality/value: Our study focuses on the phase of the entrepreneurship process in which intention becomes action and, more specifically, on those events that favor this change in behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]