Business Ecosystems and New Venture Business Models : An Exploratory Study of Participation in the Lead To Win Job-Creation Engine

Technology entrepreneurs are launching and growing new businesses within business ecosystems, but little is known about how ecosystem participation impacts the business models of new ventures. This research is an exploratory study of new venture business models within Lead To Win – a business ecosystem developed as a “job-creation engine” for Canada’s Capital Region. A multi-phase research design examines the properties of the field setting, then conducts a multiple case-study of participating new ventures, and develops evidence-based propositions relating ecosystem participation and new venture business models. There are three key findings. First, more intense participation is associated with higher business model differentiation, sophistication, and more changes over time. Second, entrepreneurs participating more intensively in the ecosystem report a greater range of benefits. Third, extant business ecosystem frameworks could not fully describe the Lead To Win job-creation engine; new and better business ecosystem frameworks are needed.