Publications

November 2014 (Revised February 2016)
Case

DoubleDutch

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Matthew G. Preble

Lawrence Coburn and Pankaj Prasad, co-founders of the event solution startup DoubleDutch, have to make a significant decision about their young company's sales function. DoubleDutch's key product was a mobile application (app) and event management platform that... View Details

Keywords: Sales Management; Selling; Marketing Management; Strategy Implementation; Business Marketing; Sales Force Management; Salesforce Management; Marketing; Sales; Marketing Strategy; Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Technology Industry; United States; Europe; Asia

Article

The Upside to Large Competitors

By: Neeru Paharia, Anat Keinan and Jill Avery

Large companies are often viewed as a major threat for startups and small companies; big companies have more financial resources and greater scale, market power, and brand awareness than small ones. However, our research finds that a smaller brand can actually benefit... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Competition; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry; United States

September 2014 (Revised January 2017)
Teaching Note

Access Health CT: Marketing Affordable Care (A) & (B)

By: John A. Quelch

Keywords: Affordable Care Act (ACA); Marketing Communications; Market Segmentation; Marketing Management; Startup Management; Analysis; Innovation and Invention; Marketing; Measurement and Metrics; Outcome or Result; Performance; Strategy; Health Industry; Insurance Industry; North and Central America

August 2014
Case

Rent the Runway (Abridged)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Brent Goldfarb and David A. Kirsch

Two months after a successful launch In November 2009, the cofounders of Rent the Runway (RTR), a website that rented designer dresses, are debating whether to grow their startup at a measured pace and focus on improving operational effectiveness, or raise a new round... View Details

Keywords: Lean Startup; Electronic Commerce; Fashion; Expansion; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Fashion Industry

August 2014 (Revised May 2016)
Case

Husk Power

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Sid Misra

In late 2013, Husk Power Systems found itself falling further and further behind plan. The founding CEO had decided to resign. His co-founder is faced with the decision of quitting his corporate job in the US to head to India and help form a new management team. Husk... View Details

July 2014
Teaching Note

Vaxess Technologies, Inc.

By: John A. Quelch

Keywords: Marketing Innovations; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Management; Business Startups; Marketing Strategy; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; North and Central America

July–August 2014
Article

Where to Launch in Africa?

By: Eugene F. Soltes

A case study in the management of new business enterprises in developing countries is examined. A dilemma facing a Malawian entrepreneur in whether to locate a packaging industry new business in his native Malawi or in the larger market of Nigeria is examined.... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Developing Countries and Economies; Geographic Location; Decision Making; Africa

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June 2014 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Molycorp: Financing the Production of Rare Earth Minerals (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

Molycorp, the western hemisphere's only producer of rare earth minerals, was in the middle of a $1 billion capital expenditure project in its effort to become a vertically integrated supplier of rare earth minerals, oxides, and metals. Yet it had just reported lower... View Details

June 2014
Teaching Note

Lit Motors

By: Thomas Eisenmann

In mid-2012 Lit Motors had created both engineering and design prototypes and conducted initial customer tests on less than $750,000 of investment. Lit Motors' founder, Daniel Kim, had started the company to design and manufacture an efficient electric 2-wheeled... View Details

Keywords: Lean Startup; Prototyping; Electric Vehicle; Urban Vehicle; Customer Test; Gyroscope; Entrepreneurs; Development Stage Enterprises; Creativity; Disruptive Technologies; Consumer Surveys; Market Segmentation; Manufacturing Costs; Entrepreneurship; Auto Industry; United States; California

May 2014 (Revised January 2015)
Case

Vaxess Technologies, Inc.

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

In February 2014, Michael Schrader, chief executive of Vaxess Technologies, Inc., was assessing the startup health care company's 2014 marketing plan. On December 31st, 2013, Vaxess had obtained an exclusive license to a series of patents for a silk protein technology... View Details

Keywords: Vaccine; Cold Chain; Antigen; Temperature Controlled; Developing Markets; Immunization; Health Care and Treatment; Health Pandemics; Global Strategy; Supply Chain; Health; Health Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

March 2014 (Revised September 2017)
Case

salaUno: Eliminating Needless Blindness in Mexico

By: Richard Hamermesh, Regina Garcia Cueller and Valeria Moy

In May 2013 the co-founders and co-CEOs of salaUno, Javier Okhuysen and Carlos Orellana, were encouraged by the results of their fledgling start-up. salaUno was founded as a for-profit enterprise in order to have the capital needed for rapid growth and to fulfill its... View Details

Keywords: Medical Services; Developing Countries; Developing Markets; Health Care Industry; Health Services; Healthcare Ventures; Healthcare Startups; Health Care and Treatment; Health; Business Startups; Developing Countries and Economies; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry; Mexico; Mexico City

February 2014 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Strava

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman and Sid Misra

Strava is a new fast-growing social network for the avid cyclist and runner. The Strava case traces the entrepreneurial journey of two serial entrepreneurs who have been co-founders in a prior venture, and who have co-founded Strava 3 years ago. The protagonists must... View Details

January 2014
Teaching Note

R&R

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Shirley M. Spence

This a revised teaching note for R&R case(9-386-019). View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Experience and Expertise; Contracts; Cost Management; Governance Controls; Market Entry and Exit

November 2013
Article

Investment Cycles and Startup Innovation

By: Ramana Nanda and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

We find that VC-backed firms receiving their initial investment in hot markets are more likely to go bankrupt, but conditional on going public are valued higher on the day of their IPO, have more patents, and have more citations to their patents. Our results suggest... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Market Cycles; Financing Risk; Risk and Uncertainty; Venture Capital; Investment; Innovation and Invention

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October 2013 (Revised April 2015)
Case

Myomo: Getting Sales in Motion

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Shikhar Ghosh and Matthew Preble

In late 2012, the management team of Myomo, a startup which had designed a unique myoelectric arm brace for patients with dysfunctional arms, was deciding which of the three sales models the company had tested to pursue as its sales strategy going forward. Each model... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Marketing Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Health Care and Treatment; Business Startups; Sales; Growth and Development Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry

October 2013
Article

Corporate Venturing

By: Josh Lerner

For decades, large companies have been wary of corporate venturing. But as R&D organizations face pressure to rein in costs and produce results, companies are investing in promising start-ups to gain knowledge and agility. The logic of corporate venturing is... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Knowledge Acquisition; Corporate Strategy; Research and Development; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention

September 2013
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Laurent Adamowicz and Bon'App

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Juliane Calingo Schwetz and Patricia Bissett Higgins

After a successful career as Chairman and CEO of Paris-based luxury food company Fauchon, Laurent Adamowicz sought to reduce obesity and improve health outcomes. Adamowicz created a mobile application to provide consumers with more accessible and interpretable... View Details

2013
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Laurent Adamowicz and Bon'App

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Juliane Calingo Schwetz and Patricia Bissett Higgins

After a successful career as Chairman and CEO of Paris-based luxury food company, Fauchon, Laurent Adamowicz, sought to reduce obesity and improve health outcomes. Adamowicz created a mobile application to provide consumers with more accessible and interpretable... View Details

Keywords: Nutritional Information; Obesity; Weight Loss; App Development; Business Startups; Nutrition; Health; Information; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Entrepreneurship; Social Enterprise; Information Technology Industry; Health Industry

July 2013 (Revised August 2017)
Case

TaKaDu

By: Elie Ofek and Matthew Preble

In December 2012, Amir Peleg, founder and CEO of TaKaDu, reflected on how to position his young firm for the next fiscal year and beyond. The small Israeli startup had developed an innovative software system that used patented algorithms and statistical analysis to... View Details