Publications

April 2000 (Revised June 2000)
Case

Everdream

Silicon Valley start-up Everdream wants to turn the provision of PCs to small business into a turnkey service including excellent 24/7 support. This case explores what this will take by focusing on the question of what, if anything, Everdream can guarantee. View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Information Infrastructure; Business Startups; Computer Industry; Service Industry; California

February 2010 (Revised February 2021)
Case

The Vitality Group: Paying for Self-Care

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Vitality is part of a $2 billion start-up South African and U.K. health insurance firm. It has achieved excellent results in rewarding people for promoting their health. It is now contemplating how to enter the U.S. market. View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Insurance Industry; South Africa; United Kingdom; United States

June 2018
Case

Candor at Clever

By: Ethan Bernstein and Om Lala

Clever, a high-growth EdTech company based in San Francisco, had grown quickly in market share and headcount. As with many high-growth companies, however, early employees (many of whom had never managed people before) had been given the opportunity to manage teams, and... View Details

May 1997 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Vermeer Technologies (C): Negotiating the Future

By: Ashish Nanda

The success of the Vermeer software offering suddenly transforms the start-up into a sought after company. After arduous negotiations, Vermeer management is faced with the choice of continuing as an independent company or being acquired by Microsoft or Netscape. View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Applications and Software; Decision Making; Acquisition; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry

October 2011 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Ensighten

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Michael J. Roberts

Focuses on a small start-up software company engaged in a negotiation over its software licensing agreement with a very large potential client. The entrepreneur must weight legal and business issues vs. his desire to land the key customer. View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Business Plan; Business Startups; Agreements and Arrangements; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Contracts; Information Technology Industry

03 Feb 2020
News

Venture capital investors should harpoon more whales

Video

Fadi Ghandour

Fadi Ghandour, founder of Dubai-based courier company Aramex and a leading entrepreneur in the Gulf, discusses how he found talent in the early stages of his start-up as he sought to challenge Western... View Details

June 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Case

The Perfect CEO

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

A venture capitalist must decide among three highly qualified candidates to be CEO of a start-up software company. Each has unique strengths and weaknesses and will take the company in very different directions. Whom should he recommend to the board? View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Competency and Skills; Leadership Style

13 Apr 2017
News

Three men + software = l'Elysée?

Career Coach

Jamal Eason

Jamal (HBS’11, West Point ‘04) enjoys working with alumni & students to navigate their career paths in product management and general management in the tech sector. Leveraging his 16 years of experience in general management, View Details

Keywords: Technology

30 Nov 2023
Blog Post

College Students, Take a Sneak Peek at the HBS MBA

you can explore options for your future and learn how an MBA can help you develop general management skills that you can use in any career and in any kind of organization – from for-profit businesses to non-profit organizations, from your own View Details

June 1995 (Revised November 1996)
Case

Northern Telecom and Tong Guang Electronics (C): Future Challenges

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Pamela A. Yatsko

This case considers the future challenges facing the Northern Telecom joint venture in China with Tong Guang Electronics. Asks how well the start-up and transition have been managed and whether the right foundation has been laid for the future. View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Growth Management; Business Startups; Change Management; Transition; Corporate Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Electronics Industry; Canada; China

November 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

XS, Inc.

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Joan McRobbie

XS, Inc. created a seller and buyer Internet for the $200 billion farm supply industry. How can this start-up remain the nonpartisan hub of this network, and how will it aid in the traceability of the U.S. food system? View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Food; System; Business Startups; Agribusiness; United States

Find at Harvard

October 2000 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Richard Spellman (A)

Describes Richard Spellman's decision to leave his existing employer and join an Internet start-up as CEO. Focuses on the terms of a restricted stock agreement and employment agreement that must be negotiated. Includes first drafts of these two agreements. View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Internet and the Web; Executive Compensation; Personal Development and Career; Business Startups; Management Teams

January 1998 (Revised September 2001)
Case

Genset: 1989

By: Paul A. Gompers and Amy Burroughs

Discusses the start-up strategy at Genset, a French biotech firm. Pascal Brandys, a venture capitalist, and Marc Vasseur, a leading French scientist, must decide how to proceed. Future real options are central to the strategy. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Biotechnology Industry; France

April 1998 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Randy Komisar: Virtual CEO

Randy Komisar serves as "virtual CEO" to numerous hi-tech start-ups in Silicon Valley. Explores Randy's role, his perspective on general management, and a choice between two opportunities in which he is considering investing his time. View Details

Keywords: Technology; Business or Company Management; Leadership; Business Startups; Management Teams; Technology Industry; California