Management Summary Research Study „Unlocking growth: exploring factors driving platform-based business models development“
This study investigates which factors and strategies drive the scalable growth of platform-based companies, addressing a fragmented literature that typically examines single growth levers (virality, pricing, network effects). The authors combine a literature review, secondary platform cases (e.g. Uber, Airbnb, Spotify, Revolut, PayPal) and 21 semi-structured interviews with founders and growth managers from 11 organizations and four growth-hacking consultants, analysed using a grounded theory approach. The result is a framework of eleven growth factors: product-led, community and network-led, content-led, ecosystem-led, brand-led, service-led, price-led, acquisition-led, regulatory-led, investor-led and velocity-driven (blitzscaling) growth. The factors are not mutually exclusive; they work in configurations whose effectiveness depends on platform maturity – product-led growth dominates the discovery stage, network effects, pricing and governance the scaling stage, and ecosystem orchestration, acquisitions, investor capital and regulatory strategy the expansion stage. Managers and entrepreneurs are advised to experiment with several factors simultaneously, select them according to available resources, market position and maturity (e.g. acquisitions only after the business model is validated and scaled), and treat growth hacking as a capability for continuously reconfiguring factor combinations.
Target groups of stakeholders: Founders and managers of digital platforms and startups, growth, product and marketing managers, investors (business angels, venture capital), and growth and innovation consultants
Citation: Santoro, G., Bargoni, A., Centraco, G., & Kuděj, M. (2026). Unlocking growth: exploring factors driving platform-based business models development. Management Decision. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-07-2025-2118