Disruptive Business Model Innovation: How Digital Startups Commercialize Traditional Services

Authors

  • Sinta Petri Lestari Universitas Pandanaran
  • Ayu Laili A Universitas Pandanaran
  • Laurensius William Universitas Pandanaran
  • Fasahrul L Universitas Pandanaran

Keywords:

Disruptive Business Model Innovation, Digital Startups, Traditional Services, Platform Orchestration, Value Deconstruction, Entrepreneurship Education

Abstract

The global digital ecosystem in 2026 is driven by exponential technological transformation, yet the survival rate of early-stage digital startups remains critically low due to flawed business model execution. While literature extensively covers tech conglomerates, insufficient focus has been placed on how early-stage ventures systematically digitize legacy, offline markets. This study addresses this gap by exploring the strategic configuration of Disruptive Business Model Innovation (DBMI) and investigating how digital startups commercialize and scale traditional, fragmented service sectors. Adopting an exploratory qualitative research design, this study utilizes a multiple case study methodology across three distinct digital startups operating in an emerging economy context: an on-demand micro-logistics platform, a B2B MSME supply chain ecosystem, and an on-demand professional home service platform. Primary data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with startup founders and chief product officers, complemented by secondary data triangulation including platform UI/UX audits, digital distribution metrics, and corporate financial statements. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis and cross-case synthesis via NVivo 12. This research concludes that DBMI is an adaptive ecosystem capability rather than a static blueprint. To mitigate premature venture mortality, entrepreneurship students and early-stage innovators must shift from "technology myopia" toward optimizing positive unit economics, ensuring hyper-local user interface customization, and establishing coopetition frameworks with traditional legacy incumbents.

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Published

2026-08-11

Issue

APSKI ICE Vol 04, Ed 01 (2026)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 APSKI International Conference on Association of Indonesian Entrepreneurship Study Programs

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