Digitalization as Push and Pull Factor Redefining the Entrepreneurship Concept

The business models in the future are very challenging. The digitalization and the Web 2.0, as catalyzers for new business paths, are changing the prerequisites and rules for succeeding in the labor market. The digital economy is transforming the nature of competition, of consumption and the market rules as well. On one hand, the average lifespan of companies has drastically lowed in the last thirty years, on the other hand and in the same period of time, the number of self-employed has rapidly increased. A relatively new phenomenon, the digital entrepreneurship, is crystallizing as a valid response to the new technology possibilities and as a constructive answer to amend the scarcity of jobs originated by the robotization and digitalization. The on-demand, shared, economy is becoming a powerful social trend and as such needs to be managed and regulated. Digital entrepreneurs may be considered a new kind of entrepreneurs; their motivations, needs, modus operandi and understanding of self - employment have been influenced by some megatrends. In this paper we will proceed to clarify the link between megatrends, specially digitalization and industries convergence, and the arise of new self -employment models; furthermore, we will expose in detail the idiosyncrasy of some of these new venture creation models i.e. the gig economy, solopreneurship, peer-to-peer economy or troubleshooters. Ultimately, the purpose of this article is to point out how different socioeconomic megatrends are pushing and pulling the economy and consequently shaping the concept of entrepreneurship and additionally to analyze the effects of the digitalization in the way of understanding entrepreneurship and new venture creation. Concerning the methodology, the authors have conducted an exhaustive research of the evolution of self-employment in the western economies based on reliable studies done by the European Union, the United Nations and the OECD; parallel it has been carried out a longitudinal study to detect the entrepreneurship topic trends among higher education students over the last twenty years. This last study is based upon an international conference for students (Euroweek) addressing the topic of entrepreneurship; this conference, with competition character, is held every year and illustrates in a very realistic manner the development of the concept and the attitude toward venture creation among master students along this period. These two analysis should offer us an illustration of the changing nature of entrepreneurial practices. We are deeply convinced that the digitalization, by creating platform-centric innovation ecosystems and by reducing the cost of entrepreneurial experimentation, is transforming the approach toward starting up, however there are other crucial aspects like social trends and attitudes to work of coming generations which surely play a significant role in entrepreneurial predisposition and thus deserve to be explored.