Platform Approaches by and for Marginalized Entrepreneurs: Give Fish vs Lead to Water

We need to consider platforms for development, especially for marginalized populations (Ahuja et al., 2023; Bonina et al., 2021). Marginalized populations have been left out of recent advances in mitigating digital divide (Vassilakopoulou & Hustad, 2021), and even see marginalization increase (Heeks 2022). Entrepreneurial support organizations address the digital divide by providing resources to marginalized entrepreneurs. To make a broader impact on a large scale, these organizations use a variety of digital platforms and practices (Chan et al. 2022). Digital platforms connect people and services, and they can also facilitate innovation. In our observations, two broad approaches are used by entrepreneurial support organizations to empower marginalized entrepreneurs. The first approach, “Lead to Water” (L2W) helps entrepreneurs gain knowledge and information. The second approach, “Give Fish” (GF), helps entrepreneurs by creating spaces and tools for them to sell their products using digital platforms. The main difference between these two approaches is whether entrepreneurs are expected to learn the technology or whether they are provided with readily available technologies. Expecting that each approach has advantages, in this study we are focusing on the specific research question, “Which entrepreneurial support organization practices will help which entrepreneurs meet which needs and goals?” A secondary research question is “How does the development of those platforms unfold?” Cases will be chosen for their common antecedents (Eisenhardt, 2021), including all organizations studied focusing on the same population, and their contrasting approaches. Data will be gathered through interviews and ethnographic immersion in entrepreneurial support organizations. The goal is to understand practices followed by entrepreneurial support organizations to bridge the digital divide at scale to empower marginalized entrepreneurs.