Publications

November 2007
Article

The Accidental Entrepreneur: The Emergent and Collective Process of User Entrepreneurship

By: Sonali K. Shah and Mary Tripsas

We develop a process model of how users, an understudied source of entrepreneurship, create, evaluate, share, and commercialize their ideas. We compare and contrast our model to the classic model of the entrepreneurial process, highlighting the emergent and... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Valuation; Business Model; Commercialization; Adoption; Adaptation; Product; Civil Society or Community

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March 2006 (Revised May 2009)
Case

Entrepreneurial Insights

By: Joseph L. Bower and Sonya Hout

Presents a matrix of 42 video clips of interviews with seven entrepreneurial managers answering the same six questions about their experiences building their companies. The individual entrepreneurs (Vittorio Merloni, Merloni Elettrodomestici; Alex d'Arbeloff, Teradyne,... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Business or Company Management; Managerial Roles; Personal Characteristics

Entrepreneurs-in-Residence - Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs-In-Residence Entrepreneurs-in-Residence Venture Capital Advisors Lawyers-in-Residence Rock Executive Fellows The Entrepreneurs in Residence have founded, sold, or... View Details

The Money of Invention: How Venture Capital Creates New Wealth

When the economy was booming and dot-coms were flying high, venture capitalists were admired as impresarios of innovation. Then the market tanked, start-ups fizzled, and those same deal-makers were rebuked as predators out for a quick score. So... View Details

08 Oct 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Clusters of Entrepreneurship

Keywords: by Edward L. Glaeser, William R. Kerr & Giacomo A. M. Ponzetto

29 Jan 2009
Working Paper Summaries

An Exploration of the Japanese Slowdown during the 1990s

Keywords: by Diego A. Comin

October 2019 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Souqalmal: The Choice Is Yours (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Alpana Thapar

This case describes how Ambareen Musa, Founder and CEO of Souqalmal, a Dubai-based online comparison aggregator of banking and insurance products launched her business in 2011 and rapidly grew it over next couple of years. However, by 2017, the Mauritian entrepreneur... View Details

Keywords: Unit Economics; Finance; Accounting; Competitive Strategy; Financial Statements; Insurance Industry; Middle East

2024
Working Paper

Business Experiments as Persuasion

By: Orie Shelef, Rebecca Karp and Robert Wuebker

Much of the prior work on experimentation rests upon the assumption that entrepreneurs and managers use—or should optimally adopt—a "scientific approach" to test possible decisions before making them. This paper offers an alternative view of experimental strategy,... View Details

Keywords: Experimentation; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Decision Making; Innovation Strategy

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22 May 2007
Working Paper Summaries

The Speed of New Ideas: Trust, Institutions and the Diffusion of New Products

Keywords: by Felix Oberholzer-Gee & Joel Waldfogel

February 2010 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Zotter Living by Chocolate

By: Mukti Khaire, Stefan Aichinger, Monika Maria Elisabeth Hoffmann and Maximilian Georg Manfred Schnoedl

This case is about a boutique chocolate manufacturer's decision to grow. Zotter, an Austrian company that was a pioneer in the organic and Fairtrade chocolate movement, uses the traditional confit technique to make premium hand-scooped chocolates in unusual and... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Entrepreneurship; Global Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Austria

VBHCD Intensive Seminars - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

HBS ISC Health Care Health Care Value-Based Health Care Health Care Courses Fast Facts Health Care Courses Health Care Courses Executive Education Courses Health Care Curriculum Residents & Fellows Course Strategy for Health Care Delivery... View Details

16 Nov 2016
Research & Ideas

Turning One Thousand Customers into One Million

differently from the early adopters who had been acquired in bulk or by word of mouth. In particular, they were not as forgiving of lower-quality products and services, and not as willing to pay premium... View Details

Keywords: by Thales S. Teixeira and Michael Blanding; Retail; Transportation; Accommodations

Article

Strategic Networks and Entrepreneurial Ventures

Much research suggests that social networks shape the emergence and development of nascent ventures. Scholars have argued that founders' and firms' networks influence innovation and the identification of entrepreneurial opportunities, as well as facilitate the... View Details

Keywords: Social and Collaborative Networks; Innovation and Invention; Opportunities; Value; Body of Literature; Research; Outcome or Result; Business Ventures; Entrepreneurship; Relationships; Management Practices and Processes; Power and Influence

September 2017 (Revised January 2019)
Case

Public Entrepreneurs? Picking a Path

By: Mitchell Weiss and Matthew Segneri

Direct entry into government remained an uncommon post-HBS path, with only 1%–2% of recent classes going directly into the public sector. But, for public-minded MBAs, government wasn’t the sole province for public problem-solving. MBAs could join or launch companies... View Details

May 2020
Article

To Be or Not to Be Your Authentic Self? Catering to Others' Expectations and Interests Hinders Performance

By: Francesca Gino, Ovul Sezer and Laura Huang

When approaching interpersonal first meetings (e.g., job interviews), people often cater to the target’s interests and expectations to make a good impression and secure a positive outcome such as being offered the job (pilot study). This strategy is distinct from other... View Details

Keywords: Authenticity; Catering; Honesty; Selection; Impression Management; Interpersonal Communication; Behavior; Performance

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June 2017
Case

MIA: Profit at the Base of the Pyramid

By: Lynda M. Applegate, José Antonio Dávila Castilla, Sarah Mehta and Aldo Sesia

In January 2016, Guillermo Jaime had just returned home to Mexico City after attending a Harvard Business School executive education program. Jaime was the founder and CEO of Mejoramiento Integral Asistido (MIA), a company providing affordable housing to low-income... View Details

Keywords: Base Of The Pyramid; Social Capitalism; Housing; Emerging Markets; Social Enterprise; Society; Wealth and Poverty; Social Entrepreneurship; Construction Industry; Mexico

11 Apr 2024
In Practice

Why Progress on Immigration Might Soften Labor Pains

every other developed country around the world has done it. And that's a huge missed opportunity for the US. Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury is the Lumry Family Associate Professor at HBS. You Might Also Like: How Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Crushed Crowdfunding for... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

November 2019
Teaching Note

Magnus Resch: Transforming the Art Market Through Transparency

By: Henry McGee and Sarah Mehta

Teaching Note for HBS No. 319-002. This teaching note pairs with a case on economist and entrepreneur Magnus Resch, who is on a mission to make the art market more transparent. He has built the Magnus app, which catalogues the price and transaction history of millions... View Details

Keywords: Art Market; Transparency; Art Pricing; Business Startups; Innovation Strategy; Culture; Business Strategy; Mobile Technology; Fine Arts Industry; Information Technology Industry