Scholars have called for a better understanding of the performance consequences of individual ambidexterity. In this work, we utilize the context of academic entrepreneurship to study how and why individual ambidexterity impacts academic entrepreneurship performance, and whether relational context moderates this link. Alongside the benefits, we argue that higher levels of individual ambidexterity generate switching, coordination and cognitive costs that can harm performance. Acknowledging the simultaneous presence of varying costs and benefits over the range of individual ambidexterity, we propose that individual ambidexterity has an inverted U-shaped relationship with academic entrepreneurship performance, in which moderate levels produce superior performance. We further argue that relational context enhances the performance benefits of individual ambidexterity through providing access to novel knowledge and resources. In doing so, it shifts the turning point so that a higher level of individual ambidexterity produces peak academic entrepreneurship performance before the relationship turns. Utilizing data on Taiwanese scientists, we find strong evidence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between individual ambidexterity and academic entrepreneurship performance, and for the moderating role of relational context.