Navigating external knowledge sources: impacts on business model innovation and competitive advantage in start-ups

Business model innovation (BMI) is considered a requirement for start-ups that source knowledge externally to counter resource constraints. We test the inter-relationships among two sources (research and support actors) of external knowledge (EKa), BMI, and competitive advantage (CA). We find that EK from research and support actors positively contributes to BMI, which positively affects CA. However, while EK from research actors has a positive relationship with CA, we find that EK from support actors has a negative direct effect on CA. This article thus highlights that not all EK helps start-ups in building a CA, thereby contributing to the literature on BMI, knowledge-based view, and entrepreneurial ecosystems in the specific context of start-ups. Practitioners can advance their understanding of the impact of different sources of EK (research and support actors) on start-ups. This paper advises start-up founders and managers to focus their resources on gaining knowledge from research actors.