From Emergence to Establishment: Governance, Monetization, and the Evolution of Digital Business Models

Digital business models often emerge rapidly and attract users, yet only some become durable over time. This paper develops the concept of business model establishment to capture the process through which a digital business model becomes organizationally robust, transactionally governable, and economically viable beyond initial growth. Combining the business model literature with Transaction Cost Economics, the paper argues that establishment depends on the co-evolution of governance and monetization. Governance matters because scaling increases the need for measurement, adaptation, and safeguarding mechanisms. Monetization matters because these mechanisms require sustained investment supported by stable, diversified, and economically adequate value capture. The paper applies this framework to fintech, a domain in which digital business models face particular demands around transaction frequency, uncertainty, regulation, and trust. Through qualitative case analysis of Revolut, Klarna, Robinhood, and N26, it illustrates four configurations of establishment defined by varying levels of governance and monetization maturity, contributing to the business model literature by distinguishing establishment from innovation, adaptation, and scaling.