In this article, we theoretically and empirically examine why and how social identity and overwork/workaholism represent pathways to convey the effect of dark triad traits – Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy – on venture performance. By analyzing the data of 569 university students with their own businesses in the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey, we show that compulsive overwork and Darwinian social identity partially mediate the positive effect of narcissism on venture performance. Thus, our study extends the narcissism literature by exploring the mechanism of the positive impact of narcissism on venture performance and implies that narcissism is not necessarily an adverse personality characteristic in an entrepreneurial context. •Narcissism positively affects entrepreneurial success.•Entrepreneurs high in narcissism are more likely to have Darwinian entrepreneurial motivations.•Narcissism is positively related to workaholism.•Both Darwinian social identity and working compulsively partially mediate the relationship between narcissism and entrepreneurial performance.