Abstract: The advent of the digital age has changed entrepreneurial behavior and results, but the value creation mechanism between startups and users is still in theoretical exploration stage. So, from the perspective of entrepreneurial opportunity development, we construct a research framework of “value proposition—interaction—entrepreneurial opportunity development—value realization”. We find that: the opportunity development is jointly completed by startups and users, and users are included in the value proposition and creation link, and share the value creation results; two value co-creation paths are formed between them, namely, through the entrepreneurial discovery and opportunity creation to realize the value co-creation; in the process of opportunity development, the digital context provides a foundation bridge for the formation of entrepreneurship through the interaction of the two opportunities. This paper introduces the important concept of entrepreneurial theory: entrepreneurial opportunity explains the value co-creation mechanism, and tries to open the theoretical black box of value creation formed by the interaction between users and start-ups in the digital era, and provides enlightenment for the start-up enterprises to effectively coordinate the relationship with users.

Key words: entrepreneurial opportunity, value co-creation, interaction, digital age