We present a dual-adatom diffusion-limited model to investigate the growth mechanisms of compound semiconductor nanowires, specifically via the vapor−liquid−solid or vapor−solid−solid routes. The experimental validation of the model is achieved through the growth of InAs nanowires catalyzed by a gold nanoparticle in a molecular beam epitaxy reactor. Initially, we derive essential parameters, diffusion lengths, flux to the seed, and Kelvin effect that characterize nanowire growth under an excess of one of the two beams, e.g., group III or group V atoms. We then calculate the instantaneous growth rate set by the minority current among the two types of atoms. Our model is applied to analyze the length−radius dependence of InAs nanowires, as measured by scanning electron microscopy, covering experimental growth conditions ranging from the As-limited to the In-limited regime. We find that the model successfully describes intricate transitions between the minority currents during elongation of the nanowires. This demonstrates that the notion of excess of flux, commonly applied to the growth of compound semiconductors, cannot be universally used on nano-objects like nanowires. Importantly, our approach is generic and can be broadly applied to study the growth of various compound semiconductor nanowires.