Table Of ContentSébastienRonteau,LaurentMuzellec,DeepakSaxena,DanielTrabucchi
DigitalBusinessModels
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Sébastien Ronteau, Laurent Muzellec,
Deepak Saxena, Daniel Trabucchi
Digital Business
Models
The New Value Creation and Capture Mechanisms
of the 21st Century
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ISBN978-3-11-076241-9
e-ISBN(PDF)978-3-11-076255-6
e-ISBN(EPUB)978-3-11-076259-4
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1515/9783110762556
ThisworkislicensedundertheCreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives4.0
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Thisbookisdedicatedtomycolleagues,friends,studentsandalumniatAudencia
and Trinity Business School, who have sometimes been “guinea pigs” and often
partnersinpassionatediscussionsregardingdigitalbusinessmodelsanddigitalen-
trepreneurs, and the way they are bringing a change to our world as well as the
mannerinwhichweinteract.
Iextendatenderandgratefulthoughttomycompanionandsoulmate,Yasmine,
andmyamazingchildren,AnttonandLilas,fortheirpatienceandunfailingsupport
whenIlockedmyselfintheattictowritetheselinesandmanyothers.Iloveyou.
–SébastienRonteau
ThisbookisdedicatedtomybelovedwifeLisa,mybeautifulchildrenLena,Barraand
Killianandmydearsister,Anne-Francoise. –LaurentMuzellec
Dedicatedtomydearparents,G.P.SaxenaandMadhuSaxena,andmywife,Nisha.
–DeepakSaxena
ThisbookisdedicatedtotheIrishadventure.JoiningTrinityCollegein2017wasa
needed step in my PhD path, which turned out to be the beginning of a great
friendship with Laurent and Seb. Meeting them through the rainy days that were
spent writing various articles was an unexpected surprise that represents several
differentthingstoday:ourconference,ourprojectsandthisbook,alongwiththe
manygreatmomentsspenttogether,andthememorieswewillcontinuetomake.
So, thank you, “Irish” friends – this book is dedicated to our great adventure to-
gether. . .andalltheprojectstocome! –DanielTrabucchi
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Preface
Everystoryhasacontext,aplot,andanending.Behindthedevelopmentofthisbook,
there isa long story with several twists and turns, encounters, dead ends, joys and
achievements.
Iperfectlyrememberhowitallbegan.Atthetime,Iwasnotawareintheslight-
estthatitwouldtakeupsomuchofmytimeandpassionforyearstocome.
Laurent and I were enjoying coffee. He had just moved back to Ireland to de-
velop a new master's in digital marketing. We had been already working together
ononeofourfirstarticlesontwo-sidedInternetplatforms.In2012,businessmodels
andthewaythenewcompaniesweremakingmoneyinfluencedourconversations
and academic debates. Laurent is a professor in Marketing with a background in
PoliticalScience,whereasIamaprofessorinEntrepreneurshipwithabackground
inEconomics,Strategy,andInnovation.Ratherthansunderingus,ourdiscussions
revealed the benefit of observing digital enterprises from different lenses: market-
ing,strategy,andentrepreneurship.
LaurentinvitedmetoconductacourseonDigitalBusinessModelsinthenewly
launched MSc. No one seemed to have taught a module such as this one before. I
was enthusiastic and started digging frantically for information in books, blogs,
andacademicarticles.Ifoundthatknowledgeinthisareawasscarceanddissemi-
nated over grey literature. Practitioners mainly focussed on business modelling
whileresearchersseemedtobestuckonthetraditionaleconomicconsiderations.
ThecoursewasasuccessandhasnowbeenduplicatedinIrelandandFrance.
Needlesstosay,theInternetcontextchanged;however,itisalwayschallengingto
train students and help them see beyond the consumer perspective to assess the
strategicrisksbehindthosewell-knowndigitalbusinessesthatweadmirefortheir
successandtheservicestheyprovide.
Alongtheway,wefoundcompanionsandfriends.Deepak,withhisvastknowl-
edge in Information Technologies, worked for Trinity Centre for Digital Business
and Analytics. The centre, which was launched by Laurent, mirrors our desire for
multidisciplinary research. Its goal is to foster multidisciplinary research to create
and disseminate knowledge regarding digital business. Further interactions with
CEOsanddigitalleadersfuelledourthoughtsandideas.
DanielbroughthisbackgroundinInnovationManagementaswellashisintel-
lectual enthusiasm for digital platform dynamics. He joined Trinity as a visiting
PhDscholarfromPolitecnicodiMilano.Inthebeginning,wewereflatteredasDan-
ielapproachedusregardingourjointpaper,whichhadinspiredhim.Wewerethen
quickly impressed by his dynamism and prolific production on digital platforms.
Danielbeganseveralprojectsandinvitedustocontributetosomeofthepaperson
thesharingeconomy,thevaluedriversbehinddigitalbusinessesandthefutureof
multi-sided platforms. We nurtured our passions on digital platforms through the
Symplatform,anindustry-academicsymposium,whichwasinitiatedbyDaniel:
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VIII Preface
Symplatformistheplacewhereacademicknowledgemeetsthepracticeworldtofosteracriti-
caldiscussiononwhatplatformsare,howtheyworkandwhattheycanbecomeforpeople,
organizationsandoursociety.
Symplatform continues to influence a growing community around a yearly event
andisnow serving as aplatform for itsparticipants withdifferentoutlets, such as
podcasts,books,MOOCs,andotherinitiatives.
DidIloseyou?Whyandhowdidweendupwritingthisbook?
Thisbookisanaturaloutcomeofalltheabove.Thepandemicwastheopportu-
nitytorecallandrealisethis.Ultimately,itactedasanaccelerator.Werealisedthat
wehadthecontentfromcourses,casestudies,conversationswithdigitalleaders,a
body of academic papers, and a team of individuals from different backgrounds
whoworkedwelltogether.Finally,wehadfoundtheenergyandthetimetosettle
ourfindingsandviewsonDigitalBusinessModels.
Thisbookaddresseshowventuresdesigndigitalservicestogeneratevalue.We
adopt a strategic perspective to surpass the consumer perspective and analyse the
businessmodelsatworkinthedigitalarena.
Theambitionistogivethereadersastartingpoint–andhopefullymuchmore–
toaddressthe complexityand a systemic perspectiveonthe characteristics and im-
plicationsofrunningadigitalbusiness.Inaddition,abusinessmodelasaconceptis
theperfectlayertorecombinetherationalesandlogicofbusinessactionsunderpin-
ningavisionandamission.Itisnotalistingofdigitalbusinessmodelsinanorma-
tive call. Rather, it is an open-ended perspective and personal thought on how we
makesenseofspecificitiesandchallengesofthebestinclass.Foreachchapter,we
drawsome“keytakeawaysandfurtherconsiderations”forentrepreneurs,managers,
andfuturedigitalleaders.
We hope that the same spark that drives us will touch you through your jour-
ney.EnjoyyourtriptoDigitalBusinessModels:NewValueCreationandCap-
tureMechanismsofthe21stCentury.
S.Ronteau
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About the Authors
SébastienRonteauisaprofessorofEntrepreneurshipandco-headof
theHubforExplorationandEntrepreneurshipatAudenciaBusiness
School.HisresearchinterestsfocusonStrategy,Entrepreneurship,
andDigitalStartupswithacloselookatBusinessmodelsand
ecosystemsdynamics,aswellasonentrepreneurialpractices.His
academicworkhasappearedintop-tieracademicjournals,suchas
Entrepreneurship&RegionalDevelopment,IndustrialMarketing
Management,InternetResearch,andCreativityandInnovation
Management.HeisalsoanAdjunctFacultyatTrinityBusinessSchool,
TrinityCollegeDublin,since2017.Heco-foundedSymplatformin
2020.Headvisesstart-upsandteachesdigitalbusinessmodelsand
entrepreneurialbusinessplanningatexecutivelevels.
LaurentMuzellecisaprofessorinMarketingandthefounderand
directorofTrinityCentreforDigitalBusinessandAnalyticsaswellas
theMScinDigitalMarketingStrategyatTrinityBusinessSchool,
TrinityCollegeDublin.Hisresearchinterestspertaintothefieldof
digitalbusinessmodels,electronicWordofMouth,andbrand
management.Hisarticleshaveappearedinseveralinternational
publications,includingIndustrialMarketingManagement,Marketing
Theory,JournalofAdvertisingResearch,andEuropeanJournalof
Marketing.Laurentteachesmarketingstrategyanddigitalmarketing
attheexecutivelevel,suchasExecutiveMBA.Heco-founded
Symplatformin2020.
OpenAccess.©2023theauthor(s),publishedbyDeGruyter. Thisworkislicensedunderthe
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https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110762556-203
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