How unicorns emerge? Influence of Business model and Technology change on opportunity realizations

Abstract

As a precursor of entrepreneurship, scholars have usefully revealed different types of opportunities, including discovery, creation and imagination. However, surprisingly less is known about how an entrepreneur can better realise a given opportunity in hand. Strategy research has found that successful unicorn companies are frequently based on advanced technologies and/or novel business models. Integrating the strategy research insight with entrepreneurship, this study explores whether and how changes in business model and technology may influence opportunity realisation, interpreted as the emergence of unicorn ventures. Using a sample of 50 unicorn companies across the world, QCA results revealed that unicorn ventures based on opportunity discovery are mainly associated with incremental changes in business model and technology. In contrast, unicorn ventures with creative and imaginative opportunities are associated with radical changes in both business model and technology. With results, this piece contributes to the ongoing development of the opportunity concept in entrepreneurship by revealing different value creation-capture mechanisms and showing performative aspects of the opportune concept.