Publications

June 2014
Teaching Note

Steve Carpenter at Cake Financial

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

After investing $9 million of venture capital, Cake Financial had failed to reach critical mass. In early 2010 Cake's assets were sold and the company was dissolved. Founded in 2006, the San Francisco-based Internet company allowed users to monitor their investments... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Internet; Financial Services Industry; Web Services Industry

14 Mar 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, March 14

revenue. BrightStar was now a very different company from the one Shelly and JD had started during their first year of marriage. Shelly Sun, CEO, had decided to franchise the business in 2004, believing that the franchise View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

19 Jan 2021
In Practice

Leadership Advice for Biden: Restore a Sense of Calm

challenge lies in attempting to heal a nation that is bitterly divided. We asked members of Harvard Business School's faculty two questions: First, how do you expect Biden’s presidency to impact businesses? And second, what leadership... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

04 Oct 2016
Blog Post

The Peek Weekend Stem Cohort Experience

how Alibaba’s Taobao got started as a B2B platform, or what Uber’s highly profitable business model was, or that the now very popular Swiss watches were seriously struggling for a while until Jean-Claude... View Details

29 Aug 2017
Blog Post

3 Insights from My First Year at HBS

It’s hard to believe how quickly a year can fly by. When I first started my RC year at Harvard Business School, I grossly underestimated the advice, "business school is a constant struggle to balance your social life, academics, and... View Details

07 Jul 2023
Blog Post

Harvard Innovation Labs: Where Passion and Purpose Meet

alumni-founded ventures across the globe, and a wet-lab building for life sciences ventures. It is overseen by Thomas Eisenmann, the Howard H. Stevenson Professor of Business Administration and the Peter O. Crisp Chair of the Harvard... View Details

Web

The 20th Century Zeitgeist - Leadership

door for conglomerate business model Influence: Medium-High 70 1970 s 19 Deregulation of oil and airline industries New energy policies and programs Stagflation cripples economy Environmental protection... View Details

March 2007 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Fabindia Overseas Pvt. Ltd.

By: Mukti Khaire and Prabakar (PK) Kothandaraman

Fabindia is a for-profit Indian retail company with the stated mission of providing employment to weavers and traditional handicraft artisans in rural India. Established in 1960 as an exporter of home furnishings, Fabindia has grown as a consumer-facing retailer of... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Growth and Development Strategy; Supply Chain; Mission and Purpose; Expansion; Retail Industry; India

10 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

Disruption: The Art of Framing

a still-viable business model while simultaneously trying to develop a new platform for growth, it gets pulled in two directions, and both efforts underperform. Kodak, for example, needs to continue to focus... View Details

Keywords: by Clark Gilbert & Joseph L. Bower

10 Mar 2021
Blog Post

COVID Killed the Traditional Workplace

again? Should companies do away with Zoom and return the workplace to its pre-COVID ways? The answer, in a word: No. At least that’s not the future of work envisioned by several members of the Harvard Business School faculty—all of whom... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

July 2008 (Revised January 2010)
Case

Affinity Labs, Inc.

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Elizabeth Kind

In November 2006, Chris Michel left Military.com, which he founded in 1999, to start Affinity Labs, a global network of online communities. That month, Michel raised a Series A round of venture funding and established a partnership with Monster, which he had sold... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Demand and Consumers; Partners and Partnerships; Social and Collaborative Networks; Online Technology

March 2010 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Creative Capital: Sustaining the Arts

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Creative Capital provides grants to individual artists using a venture capital model—the money comes with guidance and governance. Artists receive money as milestones are reached and also receive guidance on managing their lives and business to increase their... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Growth and Development Strategy; Nonprofit Organizations; Financial Services Industry

01 Dec 2018
News

In My Humble Opinion: Growth Investor

Cedric Bobo (MBA 2004) was bitten by the business bug at the age of eight, when he visited his mother, who was a secretary at FedEx’s Memphis office. “I was drawn to the creative, all-hands-on-deck energy of the place,” he says. “In 1983,... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

December 2010 (Revised November 2014)
Case

Steven Carpenter at Cake Financial

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

After investing $9 million of venture capital, Cake Financial had failed to reach critical mass. In early 2010 Cake's assets were sold and the company was dissolved. Founded in 2006, the San Francisco-based Internet company allowed users to monitor their investments... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Internet; Financial Services Industry; Web Services Industry