Stakeholders’ Roles in Business Model Development of New Technology-Based Firms

Firms’ business models develop from interactions with external stakeholders, though the consequences of such interactions for the initial business models are unclear. This study investigates stakeholders’ roles in new technology-based firms’ (NTBFs’) business model development and the mechanisms explaining the importance of these roles in the founders’ focus of attention during development. Through a longitudinal case study of two Swedish NTBFs, the results reveal that external stakeholders’ roles become influential through close interactions, and the types of exchanges between the founder and stakeholders, which have consequences for different parts of the business model. Furthermore, the importance of the role depends on the cognitive schemas, based on previous experience, that exist within the founder at the time of founding, which affects duration of development. The results provide valuable insights on the influence of firms’ networks on the business configuration and founders’ attention structure; thus, indicating that the business model is network-related