In the context of digitalization, how new ventures can achieve business model evolution and create digital value becomes a new topic. This paper takes Trinity Earth, a data technology company that serves the film and television cultural industry, as the case study object. Through a longitudinal single case study method, it explores the process mechanism of how a new venture drives the digital value creation of the film and television industry through its business model evolution under the drive of managerial cognition. The study finds that business model evolution for new ventures mainly includes three stages: functionality, empowerment, and enablement. Specifically, they are oriented towards solving industry problems and achieving functional value, collaborative value, and co-create ecological value through single-point design, linear extension, and combination construction of business models. The advancement of managerial cognition models is a deep driving force for business model evolution. The main contribution of this paper lies in the theoretical logic of “industry issues–managerial cognition–business models–digital value creation”, identifying the micro roles played by different types of manager cognition in building business models, providing new insights for the research of digital transformation of new ventures and even the entire industry chain, and deepening the understanding of entrepreneurial methodology in the era of the digital economy.