Publications

13 Jul 2016
HBS Case

How Uber, Airbnb, and Etsy Attracted Their First 1,000 Customers

Teixeira. “If you don’t have customers, there is nothing to scale.” Ride-sharing app Uber pursued a similar strategy. Rather than starting out with Uber Pool or Uber X, in which drivers use their own cars, the company started with black... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Retail; Service; Transportation

Web

Help - Alumni

website, alumni email through Office 365 (O365), or if you have configured a mobile phone and/or desktop mail app to access O365. It is not necessary if your HBS email simply forwards to a personal or business email account. What if I... View Details

Web

California - Global

returns. January 2025 (Revised April 2025) Case Duolingo: On a 'Streak' By: Jeffrey F. Rayport , Nicole Tempest Keller and Nicole Luo In December 2024, Severin Hacker, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Duolingo, reflected on the remarkable evolution of the... View Details

15 Aug 2023
HBS Case

(Virtual) Reality Check: How Long Before We Live in the 'Metaverse'?

technological fiefdoms, similar to how social networks and mobile app stores operate today? The answer is not yet clear—and may not be for years to come. When will the metaverse make a splash? “For the last 10 years, metaverse and virtual... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Technology; Computer; Information Technology

01 Dec 2023
News

Endless Possibilities

Faye Iosotaluno (MBA 2008) met her husband through friends when she was only 19 years old. It was 1999, and the mobile-first app Tinder—which launched in 2012 and where Iosotaluno is currently COO—was not even a distant glimmer on the dating horizon. While the app... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

Web

Podcast - Business & Environment

climate series features HBS alumna Sanchali Pal, Founder and CEO of Commons, an app created to help consumers make more climate-friendly purchasing decisions. Sanchali discusses why she chose an entrepreneurial pathway out of busine---ss... View Details

March 2018 (Revised March 2018)
Teaching Note

OpenInvest

By: Boris Vallee and Caitlin Reimers Brumme

Founded by a team of hedge fund and NGO alumni, OpenInvest launched its platform in 2015 to enable retail investors to tailor their portfolio to their personal values in an automated way, for instance by screening out weapon manufacturers stocks or overweighting LGBTQ... View Details

Keywords: Socially Responsible Investing; Investing For Impact; Robo-advisors; Investment; Values and Beliefs; Customization and Personalization; Technology; Financial Services Industry

10 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Technology and COVID Upended Tipping Norms. Will Consumers Keep Paying?

payment. But what about after taking a ride-share ride? Or after getting a haircut? Many of those establishments prompt tipping either through their online app or on a tablet at checkout. Have you been surprised by the prompt? You’re not... View Details

Keywords: by Anna Lamb, Harvard Gazette

26 May 2015
First Look

First Look: May 26

Publications March 2015 AFP Exchange Well Said: Why Articulating Your Strategy Can Set You Apart. By: Cespedes, Frank V. Abstract—Senior finance managers now operate in an altered c-suite landscape. The executives reporting to the CEO have doubled in the past 30... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2003 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Fighting the Battle of the Bulge—Evaluating Do Good/Do Well Innovations in Morbid Obesity Treatment

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and John McDonough

Many health care innovations appear successful; but fail. This is the first case in the Innovating Health Care course that investigates how to create successful health care innovations. It is part of the first module in the course. This module focuses on how to... View Details

Keywords: Three Pillars; Industry Analysis; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Medical Specialties; Health Industry

16 Nov 2016
Research & Ideas

Turning One Thousand Customers into One Million

integrated social media. Eventually, Etsy fostered an ecosystem of more than 150 third-party apps and tools to empower and support the sellers. Shifting from supply to demand As these platforms began acquiring new customers using digital... View Details

Keywords: by Thales S. Teixeira and Michael Blanding; Retail; Transportation; Accommodations

02 Nov 2023
News

Seeding Startups

a mobile shopping app acquired by Motivity Labs. Now Nadkarni, who retired from entrepreneurship in 2015, is the one sharing lessons to the next generation of startup founders. “I love working with smart people. I love the idea of helping... View Details

Keywords: April White

31 Jan 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: January 31, 2017

2017 Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press Democracy: A Case Study By: Moss, David Abstract—Democracy: A Case Study invites readers to experience American history anew and come away with a deeper understanding of the greatest strengths and... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

March 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

WeightWatchers: Promoting Weight Health

By: Ranjay Gulati, Cynthia A. Montgomery, Ashley Whillans, Allison Ciechanover and Emily Grandjean

In December 2023, the 60-year-old weight management industry stalwart WeightWatchers announced the launch of WeightWatchers Clinic, which incorporated GLP-1s , a new class of prescription weight-loss medications, into the company’s portfolio of products and mobile app... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Resource Allocation; Diversification; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Industry; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

January 2024
Case

Flashfood: The Magic of Commitment

By: Reza Satchu and Patrick Sanguineti

Josh Domingues had accomplished what countless young entrepreneurs long to achieve: founding a promising company that aspires to make the world a tangibly better place. Shocked to learn that international food waste cumulatively amounted to the world’s third largest... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneur; Founder; Startup; Business Model; Business Startups; Food; Applications and Software; Mission and Purpose; Environmental Sustainability; Canada