Data Collection and Method of Analysis Adapted from Mei Ling et al. (2015). Table 1 (continued) Sample Respondents of Digital Start-ups in the Empirical Situation. Stage 2: Direct Observation of the Founding Team's Activities: Before Covid-19 Lockdown — 06/01/2020 To 28/02/2020 & After Covid-19 Lock- down - 13/07/2020 To 18/12/2020 Stage 3: Archival Document Review: While conducting interviews and ob- servations, the researcher made time to review the literature and note relevant data from available archival documents to aid and complement data collected through interviews and observations. Time Frame: Before Covid- 19 Lockdown: - 06/01/2020 To 13/03/2020 During Covid 19 Lockdown Via Zoom: - 15/04/2020 To 08/06/2020 After Covid 19 Lockdown: - 13/07/2020 To 25/09/2020 Follow-up Interviews for Clarification and Verification: - 07/03/2021 To 18/09/2022 Table 2 Fig. 1. Thematic coding and theme development process. Fig. 2. Founders’ continuous behaviour for early-stage digital start-up survival. The factors identified provide an answer to the research question the study sought to address, because the factors impacted the behaviour of entrepreneurs, and are responsible for the survival of digital start-ups in the investigative context. Fig. 2 depicts the factors, showing how their interaction drives the behaviour of founders who engage in the early- stage survival of digital start-ups during market entry. When launch- ing a digital business, it's essential to consider the market conditions and structures because they play a crucial role in the survival of the business. Having analysed the interviews with successful digital start-up founders, we've gained insight into the processes they follow to thrive in a competitive and unpredictable market. These factors in Fig. 2 influence their decision-making and actions, as they strive to stay viable and competitive. To succeed, founders must identify opportunities that offer economic value and understand the needs and behaviours of their target customers. Therefore, evaluating a value proposition and existing “As a founder in our environment, you need to embed yourself in the market and within the ecosystem, so that customers can see you and under- stand your product, understand the benefit, and understand what your product can do to develop trust in your product, such that customers can patronize and investors can even offer you funding at a reasonable The data that has been used is confidential. Data availability information in this manuscript are correct and that no other situation of real, potential or apparent conflict of interest is known to me.
