Business Model Choice Matters: How Business Models Impact Different Performance Measures of Startups

Abstract

Determining the influencing factors of business performance is an important topic in theory and practice. This applies especially to the entrepreneurship context, characterized by extreme uncertainty and high failure rates. Existing research, which is mainly qualitative, has identified business models (BM) as a performance determinant. This paper empirically examines the relationship between BMs and startup performance. The analysis follows an industry- and region-independent approach and is based on a dataset of 121 startups. The findings reveal that some BM patterns outperform others, but on different performance measures. More specifically, the contractor pattern enhances revenue, add-on highly influences growth, customer lock-in boosts valuation, and advertising enhances funding. On the theoretical level, this paper enriches the qualitative research with statistical evidence. On the practical level, it adds value to both entrepreneurs and investors by identifying successful patterns. The findings guide entrepreneurs in BM design and support investors when considering potential investment opportunities.