Disentangling the Digitality of Startups from an Enterprise Architecture Perspective

In this paper, we pick up the recent discourse on “digital x” and advance the field of digital entrepreneurship by disentangling the digitality of startups from an enterprise architecture (EA) perspective. In doing so, we provide a taxonomy based on the development process of Nickerson et al. (2013) and Kundisch et al. (2022) to better distinguish between startups with a high and a low degree of digitality. Here, by drawing on architectural layers, related design objects, and their dependencies, we differentiate between two primary (i.e., distinctive) and three secondary (i.e., supportive) dimensions of digitality. Finally, we demonstrate the taxonomy’s applicability to real-world startups

Digital Gazelles: Challenges of Digital Startups during Phases of High Growth

To investigate the challenges that high-growth digital startups (“digital gazelles”) face, we conducted an exploratory study of this under-researched class of enterprises at the intersection between information systems and entrepreneurship research (“digital entrepreneurship”) and propose a digital gazelle definition. We base our findings on an interview study with high-ranking representatives of 14 digital gazelles of different company ages and from different countries and industries. By following a grounded theory approach, we identified nine key challenges across the three areas of management, organization structure, and technology/systems. Building on this, we aim to better capture the strong link between the management and the digital technology use of startups in the digital age. Digital gazelles’ leaders can draw on our results to prepare their organizations for further growth