A learning-based explanation of the time properties of the international scaling of digital entrepreneurial ventures

The international scaling of digital entrepreneurial ventures is broadly associated with rapid speed and a time-limited duration, differentiating scaling from other types of growth. These time properties have been largely explained through a resource-based view and a business model lens, highlighting the enabling role of digital technologies. However, these explanations appear insufficient for understanding the complex realities of scaling, as evidence shows that it can take a long time to achieve digital international scaling, and its duration varies across firms. This research aims to extend the theoretical toolbox for better understanding the drivers shaping the time properties of scaling by adopting the knowledge-based view and the organizational learning lens. It follows an inductive case study methodology, relying on evidence from Finnish digital entrepreneurial firms to draw conclusions. This study contributes to scaling research by offering a learning-based explanation of scaling, showing how the different types of learning (in terms of its foci, sources, and processes) affect the time properties of potential and realized scaling. The leaning lens draws attention to the distinctiveness of potential scaling and realized scaling with respect to their time properties and sheds light on the rationales for the variation of these properties across firms. The findings enable a better understanding of the diverse patterns and outcomes of digital entrepreneurial firms’ international scaling and improve the rigor of the theorizing in scaling research.