Benjamin (Ben) Creo
Visiting Lecturer of Business Administration
Visiting Lecturer of Business Administration
Benjamin Creo co-teaches the Innovating in Health Care course alongside its founder, Prof. Regina E. Herzlinger. While many courses in healthcare innovation focus on where to innovate, this course focuses on how to innovate. Its four modules discuss how to evaluate the likelihood that an innovation will succeed, and then how to start, scale, and exit innovative healthcare startups. In addition to this course, he and Prof. Herzlinger advise and coach a variety of student-led startups through their Field Courses. These startups have received significant investor funding, piloted their innovations with a variety of providers, signed deals with major strategics, and have won prestigious awards such as the HBS Shark Tank, the Blavatnik Fellowship, and the iF Gold Design award.
His teaching and research assess the potential commercial success of healthcare innovations and the best practices in starting, scaling, and exiting health care firms. A specific focus is on how healthcare startups scale effectively. Ultimately, the only widely effective healthcare innovations – for both patient outcomes and return on investment – are those that scale across the healthcare system and become widely adopted. Broadly, his work examines how to change existing paradigms in the health care landscape in order to drive better outcomes for patients, firms, the public, and other stakeholders.
Specific research interests include:
· The role of transparency in healthcare, specifically why transparency is resisted and how it can become a win-win for both sharers and recipients of data.
· Effective models of innovation: The incentives, alignment, and time frames which allow for successful and rapid development of new innovations. Practical, ethical, and societal challenges in treating disease while mitigating negative externalities.
An overall thesis of his work, shared with Prof. Herzlinger, is that innovators need a generalist understanding of the healthcare system. While specialization is important, it is difficult to effect change without dynamic knowledge of all aspects of the healthcare system.
- Journal Articles
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- Herzlinger, Regina E., Duke Rohlen, Ben Creo, and Will Kynes. "The Middle Path to Innovation." Harvard Business Review 102, no. 4 (July–August 2024): 134–145. View Details
- Herzlinger, Regina E., Richard J. Boxer, and Ben Creo. "Require Hospitals to Disclose Their Pandemic Plans Now." Health Affairs Forefront (May 2, 2024). View Details
- Cases and Teaching Materials
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- Segel, Arthur I., William J. Poorvu, Ben Creo, and Justin Seth Ginsburgh. "Steel Street." Harvard Business School Case 210-010, August 2009. (Revised January 2012.) View Details
- Retsinas, Nicolas P., Ben Creo, and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho. "Equity International: The Second Act." Harvard Business School Case 209-110, April 2009. (Revised December 2010.) View Details
- Kaplan, Robert Steven, Nitin Nohria, and Ben Creo. "Freddie Mac: Managing in Conservatorship." Harvard Business School Case 411-048, September 2010. View Details
- Segel, Arthur I., and Ben Creo. "Understanding the Credit Crisis of 2007 to 2008." Harvard Business School Background Note 209-073, October 2008. (Revised August 2010.) View Details
- Segel, Arthur I., and Ben Creo. "Polanco: A Fashionable Opportunity." Harvard Business School Case 209-012, August 2008. (Revised January 2014.) View Details
- Segel, Arthur I., Ben Creo, and Justin Seth Ginsburgh. "Steel Street (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 210-034, October 2009. (Revised December 2009.) View Details
- Kaplan, Robert Steven, Christopher Marquis, and Ben Creo. "The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 410-005, July 2009. View Details
- Retsinas, Nicolas P., and Ben Creo. "Equity International: The Second Act (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 209-147, May 2009. View Details
- Macomber, John D., Christopher M. Gordon, and Ben Creo. "Disaster in April: The Obligations of Kelly Construction." Harvard Business School Case 209-099, January 2009. (Revised April 2009.) View Details
- Retsinas, Nicolas P., Arthur I Segel, and Ben Creo. "The Big Easy, Not So Easy." Harvard Business School Case 208-068, February 2008. (Revised May 2012.) View Details
- Kohn, A. Eugene, John D. Macomber, and Ben Creo. "CityCenter (B): Economics and Delivery." Harvard Business School Supplement 209-094, January 2009. (Revised June 2014.) View Details
- Kohn, A. Eugene, John D. Macomber, and Ben Creo. "CityCenter (A): Vision and Design." Harvard Business School Case 209-052, January 2009. (Revised June 2014.) View Details
- Macomber, John, and Ben Creo. "Forest Hills Park: Vision and Execution." Harvard Business School Case 208-098, January 2008. (Revised January 2009.) View Details
- Segel, Arthur I., and Ben Creo. "Grosvenor Group Limited (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 209-074, October 2008. View Details
- Segel, Arthur I., and Ben Creo. "Polanco: A Fashionable Opportunity ." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 209-005, October 2008. (Revised January 2015.) View Details
- Gordon, Christopher M., and Ben Creo. "Allston: Brand vs. Architecture (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 209-040, September 2008. View Details
- Retsinas, Nicolas P., and Ben Creo. "North Goes East (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 209-007, August 2008. View Details
- Retsinas, Nicolas P., and Ben Creo. "Conceptual Overview of Real Estate Options in Emerging Markets." Harvard Business School Course Overview Note 208-109, February 2008. View Details
- Retsinas, Nicolas P., and Ben Creo. "Chiaphua Group Vietnam (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 208-122, February 2008. View Details
- Retsinas, Nicolas P., and Ben Creo. "The Big Easy, Not So Easy (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 208-084, February 2008. View Details
- Retsinas, Nicolas P., and Ben Creo. "The Big Easy, Not So Easy: The Letter." Harvard Business School Supplement 208-125, February 2008. (Revised May 2012.) View Details