Publications

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

June 2018 (Revised October 2018)
Teaching Note

Valuing Snap After the IPO Quiet Period (A), (B), and (C)

By: Marco Di Maggio and Benjamin C. Esty

Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 218-095, 218-096, and 218-116. View Details

January 2017 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Delivering the Goods at Shippo

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Jeffrey F. Rayport and Olivia Hull

Laura Behrens Wu, CEO of software start-up Shippo, prepares her pitch for a Series A funding round following a successful seed round. Customer adoption of Shippo’s e-commerce dashboard application, which allows small and medium retailers to compare delivery rates... View Details

February 2010 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Tennant Company

By: Toby E. Stuart, Lynda M. Applegate and James Weber

Tennant, a leading producer of floor cleaning equipment, must determine how to create, finance, structure, staff, govern, measure, and manage a new venture for developing a fundamentally new product line. In 2005, Tennant Company had developed an innovative,... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Change Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Product Development; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Research and Development

April 2009 (Revised March 2014)
Teaching Note

Evan Williams: From Blogger to Odeo (A) and (B)

By: Noam T. Wasserman

Teaching Note for [809088]. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Strategy; Groups and Teams; Blogs; Business Startups; Financing and Loans; Governing and Advisory Boards; Projects; Entrepreneurship

October 1999 (Revised July 2002)
Case

WingspanBank.com (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Daniel Galvin

The case describes the new product development process for WingspanBank.com, an Internet-only financial services "infomediary" created by a team from Bank One's First USA division. The creation of the bank is described from concept development to prelaunch decision... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Making; Information Management; Management Practices and Processes; Managerial Roles; Product Development; Performance Consistency; Competitive Advantage; Internet; Financial Services Industry; Web Services Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

01 Jun 2013
News

Harvest Time

Victoria Ransom (MBA 2008) Victoria Ransom (MBA 2008) grew up on an asparagus farm in Scotts Ferry, New Zealand, a village of 65 people. The only girl in her high-school class, she went on to attend Macalester College in Minnesota, becoming the first college graduate... View Details

Keywords: social media; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information; Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services; Professional Services

September 1992
Case

Star Cablevision Group (A): Harvesting in a Bull Market

By: William A. Sahlman

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

October 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Fantuan

By: Feng Zhu and David Lane

In 2023, CEO Randy Wu was considering the optimal growth strategy for Fantuan, a restaurant food delivery platform that had expanded from its 2014 founding in Vancouver, Canada to serve the Chinese demand for Asian cuisine in urban markets across Australia, Canada, the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Customer Focus and Relationships; Diasporas; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Growth Management; Business Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Canada; United Kingdom; Australia

06 Dec 2021
News

Vision: Sound Science

It was a milestone to celebrate: Earlier this year, designations from FDA and European Union regulators moved researchers at the Boston-based startup Akouos, Inc., a step closer to producing the first-ever therapy for gene-mediated... View Details

Keywords: Deb Blagg

02 Nov 2020
Blog Post

WE RISE

team of senior investment professionals improved the firm’s fund return by approximately 10 percent and increased the percentage of startups with successful exits. Gompers speculates that this positive View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Other Financial Services; Venture Capital / Private Equity

04 Aug 2023
Blog Post

Four Remarkable Stories of HBS MBA Students Tackling Climate Change

climate change and create a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future. With support from the Business & Environment Initiative (BEI), these four Harvard Business School (HBS) 2023 MBA students... View Details

01 Sep 2015
News

Alumni and Faculty Books for September 2015

perfect set of slides to convince investors to back you and your venture. The authors, veterans of the startup world, show you how to create a compelling pitch deck and how to plan and execute a fundraising road show to garner financial... View Details

01 Jun 2016
News

Making It Possible to Explore and Grow

A Roundabout Path To achieve his vision of becoming a clean-energy entrepreneur, PhD biologist Jonathan Friedlander (MBA 2017) left Paris for HBS to understand best business practices. But he would have struggled to obtain an MBA without... View Details

September 2019 (Revised July 2025)
Case

Keroche (A): Fighting for Share in the Kenyan Alcoholic Drinks Market

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pippa Tubman Armerding

This case discusses the challenges faced by Kenyan alcoholic drinks producer Keroche Industries Limited in 2003, when the Kenyan government accused the company of manufacturing and selling substandard alcoholic drinks, revoked its liquor licenses, and shut down its... View Details

Keywords: Keroche; Alcohol; Wine; Manufacturing; Informal Market; Regulation; Illicit; Illegal; Shutdown; Factory; Low-income Consumers; Multinational; Local; Government; Allegations; Accusations; Negative Press; EABL; Tusker; Beer; SAB; Chang'aa; Naivasha; Rift Valley; East Africa; Lawsuit; Legal Battle; Business Ventures; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Production; Safety; Quality; Distribution; Small Business; Family Business; Crime and Corruption; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decisions; Income; Demographics; Geographic Scope; Geographic Location; Goods and Commodities; Government Legislation; Growth and Development; Business History; Lawsuits and Litigation; Laws and Statutes; Lawfulness; Goals and Objectives; Consumer Behavior; Market Entry and Exit; Problems and Challenges; Social Issues; Poverty; Strategy; Competition; Entrepreneurship; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Kenya; Nairobi; Africa