Among the three different types of passion which include passion for inventing, passion for developing and passion for founding, passion for inventing and passion for developing have the most obvious impact on the business model innovation of startups, but the magnitude is somewhat different. At the same time, in an uncertain market environment, the role of passion for inventing and passion for developing on business model innovation will also be affected by the intensity of market competition. However, the existing research has failed to conduct an in-depth analysis on the above-mentioned problems. Based on these reasons, this paper explores the impact of passion for inventing and passion for developing on the business model innovation of startups, and analyzes how competition intensity affects the role of passion for inventing and passion for developing on business model innovation.

This paper conducts a questionnaire survey on 273 Chinese startups established after 2014, and mainly adopts multiple linear regression analysis methods to empirically test the research hypotheses. The research shows that both passion for inventing and passion for developing can effectively enhance the business model innovation of startups, but the latter has a greater impact than the former. Competition intensity can strengthen the positive impact of passion for inventing on business model innovation, but it weakens the efficacy of passion for developing.

This paper has two theoretical contributions: First, it studies the relationship between passion for inventing and passion for developing and the business model innovation of startups, which enriches the tension of entrepreneurial passion and clarifies the differences between different types of entrepreneurial passion. Second, it explores the impact of passion for inventing and passion for developing on business model innovation, and analyzes the moderated role of competition intensity on the impact. The discovery enriches the research on the business model innovation of startups, and expands the understanding of the influencing factors of business model innovation.

In addition, this paper also has important practical value. Entrepreneurial passion is an important driving force to promote the business model innovation of startups. Therefore, startups should create a climate for entrepreneurial passion to grow, maintain strong and positive entrepreneurial passion, and make entrepreneurial passion generate its due value. Since different types of entrepreneurial passion enhance business model innovation differently, entrepreneurs should pay more attention to passion for developing. What’s more, startups need to pay close attention to the intensity of market competition in the process of business model innovation. They should mainly adopt the approach of changing lanes rather than competing in the same way, focusing on the value proposition innovation in the business model, so as to more effectively meet the needs of customers.