E-Entrepreneurs: Marketing driven or technologically driven?

Abstract

E-entrepreneurs, the newest wave of entrepreneurs have revolutionised the business landscape. By e-entrepreneurs we are referring, in particular, to the entrepreneurial activity which has spawned electronic commerce ventures in the past ten years.

Leading e-entrepreneurs have redefined the rules of successful business from a long-term profit orientation to a short-term market domination orientation, possibly with large, short-term losses. In addition, these leading e-entrepreneurs themselves have developed a high profile that at times seems almost controversial, if not notorious. Many of the new businesses have a high-tech character about them, with a strong emphasis on 'gadgetry' to attract consumers.

This leads us to ask whether these firms are primarily technological driven, or whether they are in fact marketing driven? To answer this question we reviewed existing case studies of Australian and US-based e-entrepreneurs to assess what has been learnt so far. Next, we initiated a new case study of Sanity, com au to see to what extent they were technological or marketing driven. The Sanity, com. au case study was primarily based on a survey of users of that site who were asked to assess its technical and marketing features.