The Digital Linchpin for Mobile Startup? Exploring the Social Media Knowledge and Managerial Skills of Mobile Entrepreneurs

• In Event: Entrepreneurship and Business Model Innovation in Digital Media

Abstract

Given the burgeoning social mobile market in the U.S., there has surfaced a growing body of research centered on the relationship between social media and entrepreneurship. However, limited attention has been paid to understanding the degree to which entrepreneurs’ social media knowledge and managerial skills impact their business performances. This paper fills this gap by investigating the variations of mobile entrepreneurs’ social media strategies from the perspectives of technological knowledge and IT managerial skills that derive from resource-based theory. Using qualitative data drawn from 45 semi-structured interviews with mobile entrepreneurs and advocates in the major U.S. tech hubs, we find the formation and implementation of their different social media strategies are premised on the social media knowledge and managerial skills associated with the business development needs, the business network, the broader industry context, and the understanding of mobile technologies and user practices.

Authors

• Gejun Huang, U of Texas - Austin

• Wenhong Chen, University of Texas at Austin