In an age of ever faster technological development, we are presented with exciting new technologies that, as it seems, make the headlines daily. Innovations such as artificial intelligence and distributed ledger technologies seem to be the next big thing and promise to radically change the world as we know it. Yet, startups in these areas are faced with hard to overcome obstacles. pe, high potential disruptive impact, and technological immaturity force startups to build competitive business models without yet exactly knowing what is technologically feasible or economically viable. Research, especially empirical, is lacking in this area while the demand for a better understanding is growing rapidly.
This thesis tries to identify which challenges new ventures face when building a competitive business model in the context of underdeveloped general-purpose technologies and how they overcome them. Specifically, we employ an inductive exploratory research approach and interview seven startups in the area of distributed ledger technologies and artificial intelligence. We strive to improve the understanding of general characteristics of doing business with underdeveloped general-purpose technologies as well as the specific challenges these startups face regarding the design of their business model, the technology, and the environment. Initially, we use existing academic frameworks to identify current potential general-purpose technologies. Based on these findings, we choose two technologies for our core analysis. In line with previous research, we find that startups within these technologies employ two distinct business model development approaches; either a business model centered or technology centered approach. Furthermore, we propose a “Business Model Development Matrix” to classify startups into one of these two approaches as well as an “Emerging Technology Triangle” to better understand the general economic characteristics of underdeveloped general-purpose technologies. Subsequently, we offer eight findings regarding the challenges these startups face in terms of business model design, and additionally three findings regarding their technology, and the business environment respectively. An investigation into these two business model development approaches is novel and adds to the intersection between research in technology, entrepreneurship, and business model development. We believe that this thesis will encourage researchers to further dive into more detailed characteristics of the two aforementioned business model development approaches as well as better understand how and why they succeed in practice. We believe that research in this area is of equal importance to entrepreneurs, existing corporations, and policy-makers.