Business Model Innovation and Young Firm Performance: The Role of Founder Personality

This article seeks to analyze the relationship between business model innovation (BMI) and young firm performance, and the impact of the founder's personal characteristics on this relationship. Drawing on the resource-based view and strategic leadership theory, we examine the moderating role of founder workaholism on the relationship between BMI and young firm performance and the moderating effect of founder narcissism on the moderating role of founder workaholism on the BMI–young firm performance relationship. Using a sample of 205 young firms from Russia, we demonstrate that BMI positively relates to young firm performance, whereas founder narcissism and workaholism have a reinforcing effect on this relationship. We discuss the implications of our study for both theory and practice.