How are innovations taken to market? Both theoretically and empirically, the process of commercialization has received scant attention. This study investigates the early commercialization process of three innovative firms in the Norwegian petroleum industry. The authors argue that the role of strategic choice is important for the processes these firms use to create and build their own dynamic capabilities. In this regard, they address the central question of what role the strategic choice of the firm plays in the process, creation and evolution of its dynamic capabilities during the early stage of commercialization. The authors' findings reveal that certain dynamic capabilities are emphasized and appear to be more relevant to the strategic intentions of the CEO or entrepreneurial team. Two firms, whose strategic intent was to commercialize and exit, were more inclined to build an adaptive capability, while the firm intending to commercialize and to stay in the market stressed the importance of absorptive capability. Common to all three cases is the finding that adaptive and absorptive capabilities seem to enhance their innovative capabilities, which are essential for commercializing innovations.