%0 Journal Article %J Technology Innovation Management Review %D 2021 %T Discovery and Validation of Business Models: How B2B Startups can use Business Experiments %A Patrick Brecht %A Daniel Hendriks %A Anja Stroebele %A Carsten H. Hahn %A Ingmar Wolff %K B2B Startup %K Business Experiment Design %K Business Experiments %K business model %K Customer Development Process %K Four-Step Iterative Cycle %K Growth Hacking %K lean startup %X Startups searching for a business model face uncertainty. This research aims to demonstrates how B2B startups can use business experiments to discover and validate their business model's desirability quickly and cost-effectively. The research study follows a design science approach by focusing on two main steps: build and evaluate. We first created a B2B-Startup Experimentation Framework based on well-known earlier frameworks. After that, we applied the framework to the case of the German startup heliopas.ai. The framework consists of four steps (1) implementation of a measurement system, (2) hypothesis development and prioritization, (3) discovery, and (4) validation. Within its application, we conducted business experiments, including online and offline advertisements, as well as interviews. This research contributes in several ways to the understanding of how B2B-startups can use business experiments to discover and validate their business models: First, the designed B2B-Startup Experimentation Framework can serve as a guideline for company founders. Second, the results were used to improve the existing business model of the German B2B startup heliopas.ai. Finally, applying the framework allowed us to formulate design principles for creating business experiments. The design principles used in the study can be further tested in future studies. %B Technology Innovation Management Review %I Talent First Network %C Ottawa %V 11 %P 17-31 %8 03/2021 %G eng %U timreview.ca/article/1426 %N 3 %1 Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences Patrick Brecht, M.Sc., works as a research associate at the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences after completing his study in industrial engineering with a focus on sales. In addition to his passion for sales, he has a growing fascination for science and entrepreneurship. In his role as project manager at the xLab, Experimental Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, he supports startups in the area of business model innovation. His focus lies in validating startup potential within the field of smart business experiments and platform business models. %2 Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences Daniel Hendriks, B.Sc., studied business administration and industrial engineering, focusing on service-oriented business model development at the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences. He works as a research associate at xLab of the University of Applied Sciences as an expert on B2B startup experimentation and Lean Startup. Besides his work, he is perusing a master’s degree at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in business administration and industrial engineering. %3 Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences Anja Ströbele, B.Sc., is a research associate of the xLab at the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences. Her main research interests are in the fields of innovation, platform business models, and experimentation. During her studies, she developed a passion for research and an interest in innovation and entrepreneurship from analyzing the factors that turn a user innovator into a social entrepreneur with the help of theories of planned behavior. Her current master’s degree focus is on marketing-finance that not only provides an understanding of the interface of these two disciplines, but also gives insights into design process models to create financial innovations. She currently works analyzing service management failures by applying probabilistic Bayesian modeling on collections of text documents. %4 Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences Prof. Dr. Carsten Hahn works as a director of research and innovation at SAP and additionally holds a professorship for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Applied Sciences Karlsruhe. After studying business informatics at the University of Mannheim and doing his doctorate in Marketing at the University of Mainz, he began his career as an assistant to the executive board of SAP. Carsten serves as a visiting lecturer at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In his academic work, he founded the xLab, which deals with entrepreneurship and innovation concepts in research, teaching, and practical application. %# heliopas.ai Ingmar Wolff, M.Sc., is always passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship, has founded two startups, and financed his studies with a sales business. He completed his studies in industrial engineering with a focus on entrepreneurship and computer science at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Afterwards, he consulted for startups on product-market fit and technology at the SAP startup incubator “innoWerft”. After working at KIT as a research associate in the domain of automated machine learning, he founded his current company heliopas.ai GmbH, which provides AI-powered irrigation advice to farmers. %& 17 %R http://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/1426