Towards an Understanding of Entrepreneurial Alertness in the Formation of Platform Ecosystems

In platform ecosystems, the platform provider seeks to derive increasing returns over time as the ecosystem of backing actors grows more numerous. While a growing body of research has addressed the ecosystem strategies of large enterprises, less attention has been paid to small firms in the role of platform providers. As small firms do not possess the resources of large enterprises, they are not in a position to ignore the importance of immediate returns needed for the viability of the firm. In a case study, we study the entrepreneurial alertness of a small technology-based firm in promoting a platform for machine-to-machine communication. Our results suggest that balancing increasing and immediate returns requires a variety of entrepreneurial activities that encompasses strategic foresight and systemic insight on one hand, and explorative and exploitative actions on the other. This paper contributes to our understanding of platform ecosystems by addressing the strategies of a small firm as an emerging