Filter Results:
(423)
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(945)
- News (300)
- Research (423)
- Events (1)
- Multimedia (15)
- Faculty Publications (289)
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(945)
- News (300)
- Research (423)
- Events (1)
- Multimedia (15)
- Faculty Publications (289)
Sort by
- March 2021 (Revised October 2023)
- Case
Mary Kay Ash: Changing the World
By: Robert Simons and Shirley Sun
This case describes the rise of Mary Kay, the founder of the worldwide cosmetics company. As a young single mother, Mary Kay had to overcome many obstacles to start her business and guide it to success. Today, there are more than 3.5 million Mary Kay beauty consultants... View Details
Keywords: Business Start-ups; Entrepreneurship; Values and Beliefs; Business Startups; Work-Life Balance; Success; Religion; Family Business; Personal Development and Career; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry
Simons, Robert, and Shirley Sun. "Mary Kay Ash: Changing the World." Harvard Business School Case 121-046, March 2021. (Revised October 2023.)
- November 1997 (Revised December 1999)
- Case
Cinemex
By: James L. Heskett
The founders of Cinemex, the largest capitalized venture start-up in Mexican history, are debating several issues concerning the operations of their new chain of motion picture theatres in Mexico City. The first concerns whether some seats should be left unsold to... View Details
Keywords: Business Startups; Service Operations; Debates; Venture Capital; Customer Satisfaction; Advertising; Investment; Theater Entertainment; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Mexico City
Heskett, James L. "Cinemex." Harvard Business School Case 898-108, November 1997. (Revised December 1999.)
- September 2005 (Revised August 2008)
- Case
Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur...(A)
By: William W. George and Andrew N. McLean
In the spring of 2005, an exhausted Philip McCrea, president and CEO of software development company VitesseLearning, reflects on the demands of his successful start-up and his desire to be closer to his growing family. Profiles the youth, career, family life,... View Details
Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Family and Family Relationships; Opportunities; Motivation and Incentives
George, William W., and Andrew N. McLean. "Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur...(A)." Harvard Business School Case 406-018, September 2005. (Revised August 2008.)
- September 1992
- Case
Star Cablevision Group (A): Harvesting in a Bull Market
First case in a series of six cases that follow the experience of a cable television company as it adjusts to the rapid rise and precipitous decline of the stock market in the late 1980s. In this case Don Jones, the company's founder and owner, sees the rise in public... View Details
Keywords: Behavioral Finance; Financial Markets; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Restructuring; Corporate Strategy; SWOT Analysis; Wealth; Business Cycles; Entertainment and Recreation Industry
Sahlman, William A. "Star Cablevision Group (A): Harvesting in a Bull Market." Harvard Business School Case 293-036, September 1992.
- February 2003 (Revised October 2003)
- Case
Versity.com
By: Leslie A. Perlow
Versity.com has grown from four college students working out of a dorm to a $125 million venture capital-backed company. The young founders and new professional managers struggle to create a company vision and grapple with the question of whether to acquire another... View Details
Keywords: Business Startups; Growth and Development; Organizational Design; Mission and Purpose; Strategic Planning; Conflict and Resolution; Mergers and Acquisitions; Management Teams; Core Relationships
Perlow, Leslie A. "Versity.com." Harvard Business School Case 403-132, February 2003. (Revised October 2003.)
- April 2006 (Revised August 2007)
- Case
CircleLending, Inc. 2006
CircleLending, an innovative start-up, offered individuals the ability to set up and manage informal loans made between relatives and friends. The company must decide which market segment to focus on and then how much money to raise from investors. CircleLending is a... View Details
Keywords: Business Startups; Financing and Loans; Personal Finance; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Markets; Social and Collaborative Networks
El-Hage, Nabil N., Peter Tufano, and Daniel Schneider. "CircleLending, Inc. 2006." Harvard Business School Case 206-137, April 2006. (Revised August 2007.)
- July 2007 (Revised February 2010)
- Case
Saffronart.com: Bidding for Success
By: Mukti Khaire and R. Daniel Wadhwani
Saffronart, a five-year-old online art auction company, leads the market for modern Indian art and now faces competitors in the market it created. Established in 2000 by the wife-and-husband team of Minal and Dinesh Vazirani, Saffronart.com is an innovative online... View Details
Keywords: Arts; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Auctions; Industry Growth; Competition; Online Technology; Fine Arts Industry; India
Khaire, Mukti, and R. Daniel Wadhwani. "Saffronart.com: Bidding for Success." Harvard Business School Case 808-027, July 2007. (Revised February 2010.)
- August 2015
- Case
Whistle Sports: An Online Sports Network for Millennials
By: Robert F. Higgins and Christine Snively
By January 2015, Whistle Sports, a multi-platform sports network for millennials, had attracted over 54 million online subscribers on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Vine. It established partnerships with several professional sports leagues and... View Details
Keywords: Technology; Internet; Websites; Technology Networks; Sports; Entrepreneurship; Information Infrastructure; Business Startups
Higgins, Robert F., and Christine Snively. "Whistle Sports: An Online Sports Network for Millennials." Harvard Business School Case 816-006, August 2015.
- March 2016 (Revised May 2018)
- Case
ASOS PLC
By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth
Launched in 2000, ASOS was one of the world’s largest online fashion specialists in 2018. Focusing on young consumers aged 16–25 years, the company offered over 85,000 items on its websites, many times more than the largest fashion stores, and added several thousand... View Details
Keywords: ASOS; AsSeenOnScreen; Online Fashion; Online Apparel; Nick Beighton; Nick Robertson; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Online Retail; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Social Media; Marketplaces; Shipping; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Startups; For-Profit Firms; Customer Focus and Relationships; Age; Gender; Currency Exchange Rate; Profit; Revenue; Geography; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business History; Selection and Staffing; Journals and Magazines; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Social Marketing; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Vertical Integration; Segmentation; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; United Kingdom; England; London
Wells, John R., and Gabriel Ellsworth. "ASOS PLC." Harvard Business School Case 716-449, March 2016. (Revised May 2018.)
- February 2024
- Case
Adventures Inc: 21st Century Brand Building
By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott
Founded in 2020, Adventures worked with celebrities in Brazil to create and launch digitally native brands. The idea was to match the celebrity’s skill in creating content and entertaining fans with Adventures’ skill in consumer packaged goods marketing and operations.... View Details
Keywords: Digital Brand; Influencer Marketing; Growth And Scaling; Capital Constraints; Brand Portfolio Strategy; CPG; Start-up; Celebrity Endorsement; Digital Marketing; Growth and Development Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Advertising; Social Media; Business Startups; Joint Ventures; Brands and Branding; Brazil
Groysberg, Boris, and Sarah L. Abbott. "Adventures Inc: 21st Century Brand Building." Harvard Business School Case 424-065, February 2024.
- December 2005 (Revised May 2007)
- Case
Cynthia Fisher and the Rearing of ViaCell
By: Robert F. Higgins, Richard G. Hamermesh and Ingrid Vargas
Describes the start up of Viacord, a Boston-based medical services firm founded by Cynthia Fisher (HBS MBA) in 1993. Told from Fisher's perspective, the entrepreneur details the conceptualization and launch of the business and the many obstacles and expenses faced in... View Details
Keywords: Managerial Roles; Business Growth and Maturation; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Service Industry; Health Industry; Boston
Higgins, Robert F., Richard G. Hamermesh, and Ingrid Vargas. "Cynthia Fisher and the Rearing of ViaCell." Harvard Business School Case 806-002, December 2005. (Revised May 2007.)
- January 2001
- Case
Valuing Project Achieve
By: Mihir A. Desai and Kathleen Luchs
Project Achieve is a start-up providing information management solutions for schools. Its founders see a need for software both to manage the volumes of information necessary to administer a school and to connect parents, teachers, and students in a more effective way.... View Details
Keywords: Business Startups; Valuation; Venture Capital; Cost of Capital; Cash Flow; Forecasting and Prediction
Desai, Mihir A., and Kathleen Luchs. "Valuing Project Achieve." Harvard Business School Case 201-080, January 2001.
- November 2007 (Revised August 2014)
- Case
D2Hawkeye: Growing the Medical IT Enterprise
By: Robert F. Higgins, Rosie O'Donnell, Sophie LaMontagne and Brent Kazan
In mid-March 2007, Chris Kryder sat in his office and thought about how to best finance his company's growth. Over the previous five years as founder and CEO of D2Hawkeye, a Waltham, Massachusetts-based healthcare analytics company, Kryder had grown the firm from a... View Details
Keywords: Strategy Development; Strategic Positioning; Strategic Vision; Venture Capital; Small Business; Investment; Growth Management; Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Financial Strategy; Business Strategy; Service Industry; Health Industry; Waltham
Higgins, Robert F., Rosie O'Donnell, Sophie LaMontagne, and Brent Kazan. "D2Hawkeye: Growing the Medical IT Enterprise." Harvard Business School Case 808-006, November 2007. (Revised August 2014.)
- October 2022
- Case
Single.Earth
By: Rembrand Koning and Emer Moloney
Estonian greentech company Single.Earth is launching a nature-backed token that is linked to and funds the protection of a specific plot fo land. The first landowners had been onboarded to the company's Digital Twin, a virtual representation of the planet's natural... View Details
Keywords: Alternative Assets; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology; Natural Resources; Pollution; Analytics and Data Science; Marketing; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Markets; Market Timing; Strategy; Green Technology Industry; Estonia
- 2015
- Case
Advanced Leadership Pathways: Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing
By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Daniel Lennox-Choate
In 2013, Howard Fischer (hedge fund founder) and Eric Jacobsen (serial entrepreneur and private equity investor) established Gratitude Railroad as a community of impact investors in nine different "tracks." Each track represented a different concept for using... View Details
Keywords: Impact Investing; Environmental And Social Sustainability; Social Change; Sustainable Business And Innovation; Investment; Social Issues; Environmental Sustainability; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Leadership; United States
Kanter, Rosabeth M., and Daniel Lennox-Choate. "Advanced Leadership Pathways: Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing." Harvard Business Publishing Case 316-047, 2015.
- January 2016 (Revised November 2016)
- Case
Uber in China: Driving in the Gray Zone
By: William C. Kirby, Joycelyn W. Eby, Shuang L. Frost and Adam K. Frost
CEO and Founder of Uber Technologies, Travis Kalanick, had made clear to investors and the public that expansion into China was one of his company's major priorities for 2016. Uber had already demonstrated remarkable capacity for rapid, global scaling, and for... View Details
Keywords: China; Uber; Start-up Growth; Regulation; Ride-sharing; Transportation; Business Startups; Growth and Development; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Transportation Industry; Technology Industry; China
Kirby, William C., Joycelyn W. Eby, Shuang L. Frost, and Adam K. Frost. "Uber in China: Driving in the Gray Zone." Harvard Business School Case 316-135, January 2016. (Revised November 2016.)
- July–August 2023
- Article
Case Study: How Should a Start-Up Cut Its Burn Rate?
By: Nitin Nohria, Katie Josephson, Sophia Wronsky and Elizabeth Rha
Tyler Smith, the founder and CEO of the enterprise software firm Puck.io, is facing a hard decision. Just three months earlier the company laid off 20% of its employees to reduce its burn rate amid growing economic uncertainty and a suddenly unattractive funding... View Details
Keywords: Employees; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business or Company Management; Business Startups
Nohria, Nitin, Katie Josephson, Sophia Wronsky, and Elizabeth Rha. "Case Study: How Should a Start-Up Cut Its Burn Rate?" Harvard Business Review 101, no. 4 (July–August 2023): 144–149.
- July 2008 (Revised October 2024)
- Supplement
UpDown: Confidential Instructions for PHUC
By: Noam Wasserman and Deepak Malhotra
Michael Reich is having severe doubts about how he split the equity with his co-founders two months ago, when they completed a one-page "November Agreement." Since then, Michael has found an angel investor and has worked non-stop on the business, while one co-founder... View Details
Wasserman, Noam, and Deepak Malhotra. "UpDown: Confidential Instructions for PHUC." Harvard Business School Supplement 809-023, July 2008. (Revised October 2024.)
- September 2012 (Revised March 2013)
- Case
Entrepreneurial Finance in Finland?
By: William R. Kerr, Ramana Nanda and Alexis Brownell
This case describes a new venture attempting to bring early-stage entrepreneurial financing to Finland and other Nordic countries. Entrepreneurship is taking off in Finland, an area that historically has had little venture capital or high-growth start-up activity, but... View Details
Keywords: Angels; Angel Investors; VC; Micro-VC; Accelerator; Incubator; Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Business Startups; Financial Services Industry; Finland; Scandinavia; Europe
Kerr, William R., Ramana Nanda, and Alexis Brownell. "Entrepreneurial Finance in Finland?" Harvard Business School Case 813-068, September 2012. (Revised March 2013.)
- July 2009 (Revised October 2011)
- Case
VeeV on the Rocks?
By: Joshua D. Margolis, Christopher Marquis and Laura Winig
Three pressing challenges (equity split, extent of commitment to social responsibility, and product discoloration) confront VeeV, the world's first alcoholic beverage infused with acai berries. Brothers Courtney and Carter Reum founded VeeV in 2007 and the firm has... View Details
Keywords: Quality; Food; Business Growth and Maturation; Ethics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Equity; Food and Beverage Industry
Margolis, Joshua D., Christopher Marquis, and Laura Winig. "VeeV on the Rocks?" Harvard Business School Case 410-006, July 2009. (Revised October 2011.)