The present study seeks to fill the gap in extant digital entrepreneurship research, by outlining the ways in which digitalization creates a path for the development of bricolage capabilities (e.g. dealing with market uncertainties, surviving, and even growing, despite resource constraints) and digitalization’s role in decision-making in the context of internationalization strategy with an emphasis on the implications for the value chain activities of born-digital companies. We posit that born-digital companies 1) may end up expanding their operations to foreign markets either intentionally or accidentally; 2) can use digital resources and capabilities across their value chain activities to grow rapidly in foreign markets; and 3) can ameliorate in real time the quality standard of products or services.

This research proposes that born-digital companies use bricolage approach combining various available resources to find suitable solutions to challenges or to seize opportunities in international contexts. In addition, even though some of born-digital companies do not suffer from lack of resources, they would still use bricolage capabilities to be able to achieve their goals for national or international growth, as part of their behavior, mostly being facilitated by a fully digitalized value chain.

This study contributes to literature on digital international entrepreneurship and on internationalization of small- and medium-sized enterprises, by illustrating that BD decision making to enter on international markets is based on the relationship between digitalization of the value chain activities and company resources and capabilities.