Publications

June 2010 (Revised October 2010)
Course Overview Note

Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise

By: Willy C. Shih

This Module Note for Instructors outlines the structure and content of the Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise MBA second year elective course at the Harvard Business School. The course focuses on giving students a solid grounding in the construction of... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Business Growth and Maturation

December 1998
Supplement

Vermeer Technologies (A): A Company Is Born

By: Ashish Nanda

The founding team of Vermeer Technologies, an entrepreneurial software start-up, discusses the opportunities and challenges confronting the company. View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry

September 1989 (Revised January 1990)
Case

Vinod Khosla and Sun Microsystems (A)

Describes how Vinod Khosla got Sun Microsystems started, and a critical marketing challenge the company faced at the end of the first year. Objective is to illustrate how bold creative thinking can make or break start-ups. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention; Information Technology Industry; Computer Industry

2001
Chapter

Building Information Age Businesses for the 21st Century

By: L. M. Applegate

Keywords: Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Business Startups

01 Apr 2002
News

Back on Course

Stephen Julius (MBA '88), who is English, and Stephen Heese (MBA '88), his Yank buddy, were classmates at HBS, divided by a common language perhaps, but united in their love of quality boats. Last year, the two men took the helm of Chris-Craft, the 128-year-old company... View Details

19 Oct 2023
Blog Post

New Venture Competition 2023: Business and Environment Ventures

We are NET12, an MIT|HBS startup focused on accelerating a carbonless future by helping corporations reach and sustain their net zero goals efficiently. NetaCarbon - Grace Lam (MBA 2024) - NetaCarbon is a service provider that partners... View Details

05 Mar 2019
Blog Post

"It is Possible to Walk Away from Situations that Make You Unhappy": Cauvery Patel, MBA 2016

appropriate targets. She turned to AngelList, an online directory of startup jobs, where she could keep a tab on lists generated by her keywords. "I followed up on interesting individuals and companies." she says, cold-emailing... View Details

01 Jun 2017
News

The New Venture Competition Crowns a New Crop

platform, delivering qualified workers in 24 hours. Alumna: Vera Makarov, MBA 2010 Region: Latin America FreeFlow Medical Devices LLC: Maker of medical devices that solve clotting, infection, and clogging issues. Alumnus: Andrew Jones, MBA 1997 Region: Mid-Atlantic US... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell

November 2021 (Revised March 2022)
Case

AppHarvest: Rebuilding the Appalachian Economy Through Agriculture

By: Joshua Lev Krieger, William R. Kerr and Christian Godwin

In 2021, AppHarvest completed construction of a 60-acre indoor farming facility, one of the world’s largest, recorded its first sales, and went public in a multi-billion dollar IPO. Described as “a force of nature,” Jonathan Webb founded the company to bring jobs back... View Details

Keywords: Agricultural; Entrepreneur; Business Startups; Development Economics; Sales; Goals and Objectives; Going Public; Growth Management; Buildings and Facilities; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; North America

January 2019 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Analytical Space: The Next Frontier?

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and David Lane

With one satellite aloft and in the midst of beta testing in late 2018, Analytical Space founders Justin Oliveira and Dan Nevius turned to critical questions about the pioneering startup’s go-to-market, pricing, and business development strategy. Analytical Space aimed... View Details

Keywords: Pricing Decisions; Demand Validation; Revenue Model; Business Development; Space Tech; Satellites; Earth Observation; Remote Sensing; Business Startups; Emerging Markets; Growth and Development Strategy; Finance; Selection and Staffing; Business Strategy; Aerospace Industry

December 2013
Case

Apple's Core (Graphic Novel Version)

By: Noam Wasserman and Thomas Alexander

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Equity; Managerial Roles; Partners and Partnerships; Conflict Management

April 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Black Duck Software

By: Constance E. Bagley and David Lane

Black Duck Software involves a venture-backed start-up that converted software developers' concerns about violating copyright licensing agreements or open source protocols into an opportunity to help firms use technology to better manage their compliance efforts.... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Law; Open Source Distribution; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Copyright

June 2001
Case

Bang Networks- The First Customer (A)

By: Jay O. Light and Mary N. Caravella

In November 2000, six-month-old start-up Bang Networks is preparing a proposal for its first paid subscription contract. The recent MBA founders of the new San Francisco--based company believe they have a unique new solution for effective delivery of real-time Web... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Negotiation Tactics; Internet and the Web; Valuation; Value Creation; Negotiation Preparation; Information Technology Industry; San Francisco