Technology Push or Market Pull? Strategic Orientation in Business Model Design and Digital Start‐up Performance*

Abstract

The digital revolution is fundamentally reshaping the business landscape by generating abundant new opportunities and novel business models. As a new source of value creation, a start‐up’s business model is critical for its survival and growth. How, then, should a digital start‐up design its business model? The present study departs from existing viewpoints on the topic and proposes a strategic orientation view. By integrating the resource‐based view and the demand‐side perspective, we examine the impact of strategic orientation in business model design on the performance of start‐ups in the digital economy. Using a data set of digital start‐ups, our empirical results show that both technology and consumer orientations are beneficial to the performance of start‐ups. However, it would be counterproductive for a digital start‐up to seek a balance between both strategic orientations in business model design. Furthermore, the positive relationship between consumer orientation and firm performance becomes more prominent in a highly open technological environment, but is weakened in environments characterized by high user interactivity. This study advances business model design research by proposing a strategic orientation view, and contributes to business model theory building by offering an integrated view that embraces the resource‐based view and the demand‐side perspective.