Competing Enterprises for a Better World

Media platforms and applications are becoming increasingly important in the current society. At the same time, there is a gradually increasing number of entrepreneurs focusing on social value due to the increasing need for social contribution instead of economical value. This research examines how social entrepreneurships involving media platforms or applications develop after having won in a start-up competition. Start-up competitions are an increasingly more common phenomenon, which aim to aid the further development of new ventures. This study focuses on start-up competitions in the social field, for new ventures that have developed a media platform or application. Runners in these start-up competitions receive benefits such as exposure, funding and guidance. This research builds upon previous studies on start-up development, as it focuses on social new ventures in a specific market: the media platform and application economy. When looking at research conducted in the field of start-up development, an abundance of research on entrepreneurship in the app economy can be identified. With that a research gap was discovered in the area of business development of social start-ups in the field of the media platform market, leading to the need for more insight on the matter. Additionally, it shows the outcome of winning a competition and how this has influenced business development. As there is an increasing amount of start-up competitions on the market this is an important area of research, upon which needs to be further elaborated. In order to create a compelling dataset this research uses a case study approach of six winners of three different social start-up competitions, combining a content analysis of a total of six company descriptions and five interviews with the founders of the companies. Results indicate that winners of a start-up competition go through a phase of growth and eventually move into a stage of expansion after the competition. Three kinds of resources are of great importance: social capital, financial resources and human resources. The development is mainly fueled by the importance of social contribution and the need for mission accomplishment. This research has given insight on the major obstacles the companies had overcome to in order to develop. Moreover, the results provide insight into the experience of start-ups with the competitions. This research outlines the need for validation and recognition of the companies by the competitions, due to the volatile factor of innovation on the media platform market.