The Role of Business Model Development in the Ex-Post Creation of Online Entrepreneurial Opportunity

Abstract

This research aims to tap into the largely opaque origins of opportunities in the online context by exploring the role of business model development as a key for the creation and configuration of the mental and social infrastructure necessary for the emergence of online entrepreneurial opportunity. Tracing the sources of online entrepreneurial opportunity reveals that successful online entrepreneurs claim to proactively manage their environment in terms of unfolding actions which result in the enactment and creation of entrepreneurial opportunities. Based on this real life contention and the emerging view of entrepreneurial opportunity, this chapter aims to achieve a deeper understanding on the creation of online opportunities through a quantitative study empirically testing the link between business model development and online entrepreneurial opportunity as creation in order to shed light on how business model generation shapes the way entrepreneurs socially co-create opportunities in the online context.