In contrast with conventional views of R&D alliances as cooperation in upstream value chain activities critical to innovation and marketing alliances as cooperation in downstream activities critical for the stimulation of demand, this paper proposes that it is marketing alliances, rather than R&D alliances, that play a key role in helping entrepreneurial firms overcome certain constraints in innovation. Using data from Securities Data Company (SDC) venture capital and alliances databases and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) patents database, from 1976 to 2004 (N=107 firms, n= 2305 observations), I find support that marketing alliances are a primary enabler of recombinant innovation in entrepreneurial firms as found in the cross-application of technology.