How do Big Bang Disruptors look like? A Business Model perspective

The breakthrough impact of new-born companies over the last years brought to the definition of Big Bang Disruption, a new kind of innovation that relies on an unencumbered development, an unconstrained growth, and an undisciplined strategy. The relevance from a practitioner perspective is straightforward: entire industries have been challenged and disrupted. From a theoretical perspective, the concept is less developed. This research aims to understand it through a Business Model perspective, better highlighting the design variables that may lead to this kind of innovation. Leveraging crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA) to define the necessary conditions to be called a Big Bang Disruptor, this paper relies on a Rock Clustering method – using the Unicorns' list as the sample - to highlight common patterns. Results show two main factors: the chance to innovate the meaning and to rely on a two-sided market structure as key variables to design a Big Bang Disruptor. Results are discussed under the lenses of previous research. Finally, limitations and avenues for further studies are explored.