Constructing a market domain model for start-up software technology companies: A case study

The market for a complex technology product is sometimes called reference business because references are emphasized by corporate customers. A first customer reference is especially important for a start-up technology company attempting to enter the business-to-business market with complex products. Topics relating to customer references have received scant attention from scholars although they embed substantial business relevance. This case study concentrates on evaluating concepts that are central to customer references from the viewpoint of the start-up technology companies. Of concepts prevalent in current literature, those concerning the use of the first customer references, in particular, form an inadequate base for research and are often vague. The purpose here is to introduce a domain model that describes the key concepts and the relationships between them concerning the focus of this present article. The domain modeling technique is a well-known and widely used tool for defining concepts for large-scale information systems. Domain modeling increases understanding of the present problem domain by structuring knowledge into classes, attributes, and relations. This case study approaches the identification of concepts via an illustrative example from software business. Previously known concepts, close to the topic of this present article, are then re-evaluated based on our literature review. Redefinitions of the customer reference and related concepts are introduced.