What is digital entrepreneurship? Fundamentals of company founding in the digital economy

Abstract

New Ventures play a key role in the social and economic development of a country. In particular, young and innovative enterprises in the sector of information and communication technologies have the economic function to identify and realize innovation potentials by transforming them into competitive business models. The term "Digital Entrepreneurship" - i.e., the act of establishing new companies in the Digital Economy - has received increased attention. While directing attention toward this important research field is positive, it must be noted that several recent studies mistakenly regard Digital Entrepreneurship as a "newly emerging field". This article updated one of the major foundational articles in this field from 2006 and thereby exemplifies that the true roots of Digital Entrepreneurship trace back beyond recent research publications supposedly introducing the "new term" of Digital Entrepreneurship. The interchangeability of the words "Digital" and "Electronic" in this article demonstrates that the fundamentals are still the same.