| Abstract |
In this article, I explore the role of optimal target markets in developing sustainable business models for promising new technologies. On the basis of a counterfactual analysis of what a failed electric-car pioneer could have done differently in order to survive and thrive, I argue that a high-technology start-up in an emerging industry needs to find the market where its value proposition stands the best chance of being perfectly scalable, fertile and lasting, and I show how these three qualities of a value proposition reinforce each other and can bring an initially reluctant market into being. I conclude that in emerging high-technology industries, the choice of the most adequate target market should be pre-eminent, since it is so pivotal to the selection and calibration of all other elements of a suitable business model. I close with a cautious plea for a more frequent use of theory-based counterfactuals in business research. |
