Ambidexterity in Startups

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines how founders of resource-constrained startups navigate the tension between demand generation and operational capacity during scaling. Based on ten semi-structured interviews with founders of Swedish digital-first retail brands, the study explores how this tension is managed in practice through the lens of organizational ambidexterity, where demand generation represents exploration and operational capacity represents exploitation. The findings show that the tension is phase-dependent: manageable in early stages, most acute during scaling, and increasingly governed by formal systems as firms mature. The findings further suggest a layered model of navigation. At the foundational level, cash flow and the cash conversion cycle act as the governing constraint shaping which strategic options are available. At the structural level, business model design serves as a mechanism that can reduce, externalize, or eliminate the tension. At the behavioural level, founders rely on mechanisms such as reactive attention switching, sequencing investments, deliberate simplification, and controlled growth to navigate the tension. The study's main theoretical contribution is the identification of business model design as a third mechanism for managing ambidexterity, complementing the structural differentiation and temporal separation emphasized in prior research.