Assessing Sustainability Activities in Sport-Related Software Start-Ups: An Application of the Triple-Layered Business Model Canvas

Hannah Behounek

doi:10.32920/18863759

Abstract

<div>Due to the increasing number of environmental and social issues present in society, sustainability is viewed as the mechanism to remedy these issues. Researchers believe sustainability at the societal level is impossible without businesses embracing it first, and that the business model is the key component to integrate sustainability throughout the entire business. Start-ups are considered the ideal foundation for achieving sustainability in businesses, as this is when the business model is usually developed and refined. However, few start-ups are founded with sustainability activities incorporated into the business model. This project examines three software-based start-ups to understand what current or potential future environmental and social considerations are or could be incorporated into the business models, how the entrepreneurs view sustainability activities in relation to their start-ups, and how they view sustainability activities effect on receiving funding from venture capitalists. It is found that the three start-ups have very limited current and potential environmental and social considerations in their business model. Only one entrepreneur believes that sustainability and having environmental and social considerations can help receive funding from venture capitals.</div><div><br></div>

Highlights

Diesendorf (2002) explains that sustainable development is characterized by the concept of sustainability - overall sustainability is the goal and sustainable development is the process of achieving sustainability
4.0 RESULTS This section is divided into an overview, based on their interview responses, of how each of the three entrepreneurs described their start-ups in respect to the environmental and social layers of the Triple Layered Business Model Canvas (TLBMC)
There is a summary of general environmental and social questions that were asked during the interview that do not fit into the TLBMC

Summary

Introduction

Critics often attribute many of the negative externalities of business to the sole focus of achieving financial success (McMullen & Warnick, 2016) These negative externalities have led to environmental problems such as pollution, biodiversity decline, and climate change, as well as social problems such as employee health and safety issues, and poor community relationships (Vogel, 1992). These issues have led to many international organizations, governments, and researchers expressing the need for sustainable development (Schaltegger et al, 2016). A major dilemma in sustainability research is whether different kinds of capital can be substituted by one another in order to achieve sustainability This dilemma is explained by the concepts of weak sustainability and strong sustainability (Pearce et al, 1989; Neumayer, 1999; Figge & Hahn, 2004). Strong sustainability can be explained through the model where the economy is embedded within society, which is embedded within the environment, economic and social activities are constrained by environmental factors (Figge & Hahn, 2004)

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