Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to analyse founders’ perceptions of initial configurations and busi-ness models in new technology-based firms (NTBFs).

Design: Case studies were performed using semi-structured interviews and interactive techniques involv-ing open questions and activity cards to capture perceptions of activities that form the firms’ business models.

Findings: The Business Model template, commonly referred to as the Business Model Canvas, is frequent-ly used among these companies and seemed to have shaped the business model discourse in our case companies. Our findings also indicate that founders of NTBFs perceive their customer value proposition as the most valuable element of their business model. We also recognized signs of the influence of financial partners on the founders’ perceptions of the initial business models. Furthermore, findings show that some NTBFs create parallel business models within their firms to ensure survival in the start-up phase.

Originality / Value: The paper adds value to business model research by describing how NTBFs’ structure their initial business activities and the elements of their initial business models perceived to be as more crucial during the early years as well as how these perceptions change.