Digital entrepreneurship is one of the most important and impactful forms of entrepreneurship. However, the majority of digital start-ups fail to scale, despite their potential to achieve growth. Moreover, what constitutes growth is significantly different for start-ups as compared with established firms: they have limited financial performance, and their growth cannot be accurately measured by metrics such as customers, revenues, profits, and turnover at the early stages of the new venture creation process or before the start-up has reached sustainability. Therefore, the first objective of this research is to contribute to the definition of growth by examining less tangible dimensions of growth. Moreover, the second objective is to identify the characteristics of early-stage digital start-ups experiencing growth. Based on a mixed-methods approach, which combines an adapted Delphi study, a questionnaire-based survey, and a comparative case study, our results suggest that growing digital start-ups exhibit a set of characteristics that include: an agile culture combining clan with adhocracy; the ability to nurture their absorptive, innovative, and adaptive capabilities effectively; and a human capital with adequate entrepreneurial skills, emotional attachment to and fitness with the start-up.

数字创业是最重要和最有影响力的创业形式之一。然而，尽管有实现增长的潜力，但大多数数字初创企业都未能扩大规模。此外，初创企业与成熟企业相比，增长的构成有显着不同：它们的财务业绩有限，在新的早期阶段无法通过客户、收入、利润和营业额等指标准确衡量其增长。在创业过程中或在初创企业达到可持续性之前。因此，本研究的第一个目标是通过检查增长的无形维度来为增长的定义做出贡献。此外，第二个目标是确定处于增长阶段的早期数字初创企业的特征。基于混合方法的方法，结合了改编的德尔福研究、基于问卷的调查和比较案例研究，我们的结果表明，成长中的数字初创企业表现出一系列特征，包括：有效培养他们的吸收、创新和适应能力的能力；以及具有足够创业技能、对初创企业的情感依恋和适应性的人力资本。