Publications

SSRN

December 2008 (Revised February 2011)
Supplement

Evan Williams: From Blogger to Odeo (B)

By: Noam T. Wasserman and Louis-Philippe Maurice

For several months, founder-CEO Evan Williams has felt trapped, unable to control Odeo and its strategic direction. He longs for the “simple” days of Blogger, the previous venture he had co-founded. Although his Blogger experiences had included a major blow-up with his... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Business Strategy

07 Dec 2009
Research & Ideas

Government’s Positive Role in Kick-Starting Entrepreneurship

funds have been misleading, but even these problematic perceptions can make performing their roles difficult. The second major challenge relates to the need to generate good returns on investments. Groups, particularly the larger ones, must struggle with the cruel... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

15 Dec 2015
News

The Year in Ideas 2015

communication technology that works with the same cellular spectrums that telecommunications companies use. Since that first experiment four years ago, Project Loon has improved balloon steerability, connectivity, and stamina—the balloons... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna, Christine Lejeune, Dan Morrell, and April White

March 2020 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Scaling Nextdoor

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Thomas O. Jones and Jeff Huizinga

Nextdoor, striving to solidify its position as the leading global social media platform for neighborhoods, works to scale audience, geography, and revenue. View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Information Technology; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Social Media; Digital Platforms

June 2019
Case

Monetizing Insurance at Trov

By: Thales Teixeira, Samy Dana and Leandro A Guissoni

Trov is a disruptive startup in the insurance space (“insurtech”). It allows consumers to simply turn on and turn off insurance for each of their possessions on a mobile app with the swipe of a finger. Consumers love the simple, on-demand, single-item coverage product.... View Details

Keywords: Monetization; Decoupling; Business Startups; Insurance; Disruption; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Strategy; Insurance Industry

January 2018
Case

Viacom: Democratization of Data Science

By: Shane Greenstein and Christine Snively

In two short years, Viacom’s Data Science & Advanced Analytics team built a web platform called Science Central that allowed employees from Viacom’s 20+ cable networks to access television audience insights through three data science apps. In the past, employees would... View Details

Keywords: Data Science; Big Data; Digital Platforms; Analytics and Data Science; Expansion; Strategic Planning

06 May 2019
News

Startup Talk in Chicago

lending her expertise to an initiative aimed at making the city a hub of technological innovation. From left: Alex Meyer (MBA 2005) with Penny Pritzker Pritzker was the latest guest speaker of the HBSCC Entrepreneurship Council, which... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley; Pritzker; Air Transportation; Transportation

23 Nov 1999
Research & Ideas

The Future of the Venture Capital Cycle

long-run supply and demand conditions. In the short run, intense competition between private-equity groups may lead to a willingness to pay a premium for certain types of firms (e.g., firms specializing in tools and content for the Internet). This is unlikely to be a... View Details

Keywords: by Paul A. Gompers & Josh Lerner; Financial Services

October 2018
Case

SeatGeek

By: Robert F. Higgins and Sarah Mehta

In late 2016, Russ D'Souza and Jack Groetzinger, co-founders of the online event ticketing platform SeatGeek, faced some difficult decisions. In the company's seven-year history, SeatGeek had positioned itself primarily as an aggregator, facilitating ticket... View Details

Keywords: Event Ticketing; Sports Ticketing; Acquisition; Business Model; Decision Making; Cost vs Benefits; Digital Platforms; Sports; Strategy; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Digital Platforms