Publications

22 May 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 22, 2018

Safaris find a sustainable growth path that will allow it to profitably expand its business and meet its shareholders’ interests while still achieving its priority purposes of protecting and investing in the ecosystems and communities on which its View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

03 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 3

business of "daily deals"- in which retailers offer a heavily discounted product or service available for purchase for brief (often 24-hour) windows. The case explores the complicated sharing of risks and rewards between... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

November 2022
Case

Wendy Estrella: Scaling Multiple Businesses

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Sarah Mehta

Entrepreneur Wendy Estrella, a self-made, Latina millionaire based in Lawrence, Massachusetts, is attempting to simultaneously scale her law practice as well as her property management and development company. What path should she take for each and can she do it all,... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Change; Competency and Skills; Decision Making; Demographics; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Legal Services Industry; Legal Services Industry; Massachusetts

March 2000 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Silicon Valley Bank

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Silicon Valley Bank, a $4 billion institution in California, has made its reputation by working with venture capitalists in backing start-up companies. In 1999, it is forced to compete with nonbank financial institutions that can give money on better terms and in a... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Business Startups; Competitive Strategy; Financial Institutions; Financing and Loans; Financial Markets; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Entrepreneurship; Banking Industry; Banking Industry; California

June 2016 (Revised March 2017)
Technical Note

Disintermediation in Two-Sided Marketplaces

By: Benjamin Edelman and Philip Hu

Two-sided marketplaces often risk disintermediation: users may rely on the marketplace to find each other but then perform related future transactions—or even the current transaction—without the platform’s involvement and without paying any fees the platform may... View Details

Keywords: Disintermediation; Strategic Behavior; Circumvention; Undercutting; Uber; Airbnb; Handy; Upwork; Etsy; eBay; Monster.com; Google; Competitive Strategy; Multi-Sided Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry

September 2017 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Dianrong: Marketplace Lending, Blockchain, and 'The New Finance' in China

By: Christopher J. Malloy, Lauren H. Cohen and Anthony K. Woo

This case examines the strategic positioning of Dianrong, one of the largest online peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms in China, in its attempt to become a foundational player in the expansion of the FinTech sector in Asia. Dianrong had recently announced the... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Internet and the Web; Supply Chain; Finance; Innovation and Invention; Competition; Product Positioning; Strategy; Financial Services Industry; China

13 Oct 2009
Research & Ideas

7 Lessons for Navigating the Storm

take the global economic crisis, or any other crisis, and turn it into an opportunity to transform your markets and your company? Here are 7 steps to keep your organization focused on winning the depth of the crisis: Step 1: Rethink your View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

July 2014
Case

Thompson Asset Management

By: William Fruhan and John Banko

Thompson Asset Management (TAM) is a small investment advisory and asset management firm in Jacksonville, Florida, with about $100 million in assets under management in two different funds. Since starting the firm in 2009, the CEO and founder Allison Thompson has had a... View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Asset Management; Expansion; Investment Portfolio; Financial Services Industry; Florida

February 1993 (Revised June 2011)
Case

David Fletcher

By: Linda A. Hill and Melinda B. Conrad

David Fletcher, manager of the Emerging Growth Fund at a New York investment management firm, decides to assemble a team of analysts to which he can delegate part of his workload. The case explores the challenges of being a producing manager and Fletcher's efforts to... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Groups and Teams; Management Teams; Investment Funds; Management Style; Selection and Staffing; Financial Services Industry; New York (city, NY)

25 Aug 2022
News

Up on the Corner

Owners’ Loan Corporation deemed vast swaths of Baltimore populated by people of color to be “hazardous” and shaded them red on its official maps. Banks refused to offer mortgages and other financial services to residents of these... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; photographed by Melissa Golden; Real Estate

September–October 2020
Article

Social-Impact Efforts That Create Real Value

By: George Serafeim

Until the mid-2010s few investors paid attention to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data—information about companies’ carbon footprints, labor policies, board makeup, and so forth. Today the data is widely used by investors. How can organizations create... View Details

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2024 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

now, and how will they use their power? Will we see bigger bets on likely blockbusters, more intense competition in areas such as streaming and esports, and more industry consolidation? Drawing on dozens of recent case studies, Professor... View Details

August 2021
Case

Apax Digital

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

The Apax Digital team faced important decisions as they contemplated raising a second fund. Apax Digital Fund I was a $1.1 billion vehicle focused on mid-market growth equity and growth buyouts in the technology sector. The fund had performed well, and the Managing... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Acquisition; Investment Portfolio; Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United States

13 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

Why Your Company Wants to be a 'Cognitive Referent' (Hint: SpaceX)

Internet search, Starbucks and coffee, YouTube and video sharing,” McDonald says. “In some cases, the names of these companies are so inextricably linked to the actual product category itself that it becomes like a verb. We ‘Google’ it.” A company that is synonymous... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Aerospace; Food & Beverage; Retail

April 2010 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Tremblant Capital Group

By: Robin Greenwood

Brett Barakett, CEO and founder of Tremblant Capital Group, a New York–based hedge fund, must decide what to do with his fund's position in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, which has dropped in value by more than 40% in recent months. Tremblant is a hedge fund that... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Behavioral Finance; Stocks; Investment Funds; Consumer Behavior; Competitive Advantage; Financial Services Industry; New York (city, NY)

September 2022
Case

BancoSol: Financial Inclusion in the Perfect Storm

By: Michael Chu and Carla Larangeira

In the pandemic, financial inclusion icon BancoSol faces a government-mandated year-long deferral of all loan payments, followed by the sudden Covid death of its CEO. In a Bolivia mired in political turmoil following a failed presidential election, with clients not... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Crisis Management; Management Succession; Business Strategy; Innovation Leadership; Risk and Uncertainty; Financing and Loans; Restructuring; Financial Services Industry; Latin America; Bolivia

September 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Case

AngelList

By: Ramana Nanda and Liz Kind

In early 2010, Naval Ravikant and Babak Nivi posted a list of angel investors on the Venture Hacks blog as a resource for founders looking for funding prior to seeking venture capital. The list quickly evolved into AngelList, a separate matchmaking platform for... View Details

Keywords: Angel Investors; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurial Finance; Finance; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Financial Services Industry; United States

September 2021 (Revised December 2023)
Case

On the Bubble: Startup Bootstrapping

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Tom Quinn and Annelena Lobb

Bubble was a software company in the low-code/no-code market, making tools that allowed users without traditional programming backgrounds or technical skills to build software. The case covers cofounder Joshua Haas’s engineering background, as he experienced a high... View Details