Business model development in data-driven start-ups

Abstract

Within the last decade, the business environment has drastically changed due to a series of techno logical innovations, that inspire the current generation of entrepreneurs to empower digitalization in the pursuit of disruptive innovation. Today, technological advancements in the form of IoT, Big Data and AI are essential drivers for a new realm of business models (BM), the so called data driven business model (DDBM). Startup characteristics like pristine business models and flexibility essentially make startup firms a promising basis for investigating DDBMs. This paper proposes an approach to assess startup Business models in terms of data exploitation and contributes to the discussion on the theoretical and practical benefits of DDBM by outlining key factors that enhance the development of BM through data related activities.