UTILIZATION OF ACCELERATOR FACILITIES IN MOBILE APP DEVELOPER STARTUPS

This interpretive grounded theory study describes and analyses how early-stage mobile app developer startups utilize an accelerator’s facilities to develop and publish their game applications on a platform. The data was collected by interviewing 20 startups participating in an accelerator operated by a mobile platform-owner. Our model shows that the accelerator is affecting our early-stage startups in five areas of: their 1) market-related activities, 2) resources, 3) startup’s capabilities, 4) experimenting activities, and 5) game design activities. We discuss how the startups utilize the accelerator’s facilities to improve their capabilities and knowledge inside their firms which can affect their game design, access to resources, and improve their market-related activities. Furthermore, they make the accelerator into a social boundary resource through which they aim 1) to collaborate with and impact the platform decisions more effectively, and 2) to gain access to resources from other members of the ecosystem, in order to increase the chance of acquiring more users and building a reputation for entering other platforms. Our study enriches the existing literature in the areas of mobile application development and accelerators by shedding light on the game development activities of early-stage startups that have been selected to a platform-owned accelerator. Keywords: Mobile App Development, Boundary Resource, Accelerators, Grounded Theory study

DYNAMICS OF SUCCESS FOR MOBILE GAMES: THE CASE OF EARLY-STAGE STARTUPS

The competitive mobile app markets along with the lack of business experience of mobile app startups has created many challenges for startups in their efforts to create a viable business through developing and publishing apps. In this study, we collected data from 20 international mobile game startups that were working on their first commercial game with the aim to develop a successful game as the first step toward a successful business. Through a classic grounded theory methodology, we developed a theoretical model. Our model depicts how startups work with three requirements of visibility, quality and user engagement toward success while enhancing each and every one of the requirements through online and offline social interactions with various members of the mobile ecosystem. Our study contributes to the existing literature on mobile app development and the interactions of startups with the platform owner, users, and their games artefact, particularly by highlighting how the startups leverage the social aspects of mobile app platforms for success. It also contributes to the knowledge on business creation in startups through explaining the fundamental factors that early-stage mobile game startups consider in their work on mobile platforms to create a successful business

The Impact of Digital Platform Rapid Release Strategy on App Update Behavior: An Empirical Study of Firefox

The success of platform-based software ecosystems depends on the crucial coordination between the platform and third-party applications during co-evolution. Leveraging the change of platform release governance of Firefox, this paper examines the impact of the rapid release process on app update behavior (app responsiveness and app size change). Drawing on boundary resource perspective, we theorize how rapid release process as a social boundary resource affects app update behavior, and how app developers’ usage of technical boundary resource (i.e. platform API) affects this impact. Using a unique longitudinal dataset in Firefox, we conduct empirical analyses and conclude that the rapid release process decreases size change of app updates while platform API usage enhances app responsiveness. Moreover, platform API usage strengthens the effects of the rapid release process on app update behavior. This research enhances our understanding of the impact of platform governance practices on platform-third party coordination and provides practical guidance. Keywords: Platform-based software ecosystem, platform governance, app update, Rapid Release, boundary resourc