Business modelling is a ‘fresh way for a firm to consider their options in uncertain, fast-moving and unpredictable environments’(McGrath, 2010: 247). Many digital companies globalise within several years from inception and reach markets at every corner of the world (Ojala et al., 2018; Gabrielsson et al., 2008). In industries with high uncertainty, the business model is said to be a particularly more effective form of analysis than a business plan. Developing a business model can play a key role in enabling organisational leaders to continuously improve their businesses’ multiple dimensions to sustain their competitive advantage (Evers et al., 2014). By analysing the digital business model, an understanding of how companies have utilised the Internet to grow their operations worldwide can be gained. In this chapter, we explore how four digital born global firms have developed their business models to leverage growth and a competitive advantage. Building upon the extant business model literature (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010; Evers et al., 2014), the chapter analyses and explores how born global firms develop their business models in digital environments.

A four-company case study is conducted on global digital leaders who have revolutionised their industries: Airbnb, the online rental site; Amazon, the global retail giant; Netflix, the video-on-demand service; and Spotify, the digital music service. Each of the companies fitted the definitions of born global or born-again global firms (Cavusgil and Knight, 1996; Bell et al., 2001). Airbnb and Spotify were considered as adolescent born global firms, Amazon as a mature born global firm and Netflix as a born-again global firm. The chapter begins with a review of the literature on business models, with a focus on the business model framework by Evers et al.(2014). The method-