Publications

January 2023
Teaching Note

Duolingo: Teaching Languages to the Masses

By: Youngme Moon

Teaching Note for HBS Case 323-016. At the time the case is written, Duolingo is the most popular language learning service in the world. The company has more than 40 million monthly active users, and the company’s total annual revenue has reached $250 million a year.... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Customer Relationship Management; Acquisition; Retention; Innovation and Invention

February 2019
Case

Volvo Cars: Acquisition by Geely

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Willy Shih and Nancy Dai

Zheijiang Geely Holding Company's acquisition of Volvo Cars was widely viewed with skepticism because of the poor track record of cross-border auto industry acquisitions. This case looks at the acquisition and post-acquisition integration from the point of view of... View Details

Keywords: Merger Integration; Organization Culture; Organization Behavior; Organizational Alignment; Mergers and Acquisitions; Integration; Alignment; Organizational Culture; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Auto Industry; China; Sweden

2016
Working Paper

Overcoming Institutional Voids: A Reputation-Based View of Long Run Survival

By: Cheng Gao, Tiona Zuzul, Geoffrey Jones and Tarun Khanna

Emerging markets are characterized by underdeveloped institutions and frequent environmental shifts. Yet they also contain many firms that have survived over generations. How are firms in weak institutional environments able to persist over time? Motivated by 69... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Voids; Intangible Resources; Business Ventures; Business or Company Management; Business History; Reputation; Emerging Markets

SSRN

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17 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 17, 2006

potential choices, learning from small samples, using prototypes to test business models, tracking progress through nonfinancial measures, and knowing how and when to pull the plug on a new venture; 2) Find the best combination of old and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 24, 2018

Ventures By: Lee, Matthew, and Laura Huang Abstract—Recent studies find that female-led ventures are penalized relative to male-led ventures due to role incongruity, or a... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

13 Jul 2010
First Look

First Look: July 13

case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/410079-PDF-ENG Microsoft's IP Ventures Josh Lerner and Ann LeamonHarvard Business School Case 810-096 Microsoft's IP Ventures... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

June 1997 (Revised February 2012)
Case

The Union Carbide Deal (Abridged)

By: Thomas J. DeLong

On November 3, 1986, after a three-hour board of directors meeting, Union Carbide decided to accept First Boston's proposal to embark on a $2.5 billion recapitalization program. Jameson and his associates' efforts had paid off. Jameson had reason to be excited: He had... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Capital Structure; Investment Banking; Financial Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Competition; Financial Services Industry

July 2020
Case

CSL Capital Management: Patriot Proppants (A)

By: Victoria Ivashina and Yury Kapko

This two-part case series follows CSL Capital’s 2009 investment in the greenfield manufacturing company, Patriot Proppants. CSL, a recently established investment firm, employs a unique investment model, funding new ("green field") energy service businesses that serve... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Renewable Energy; Business Model; Decision Making

23 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 23, 2019

2019 Boston: Harvard Business Review Press Becoming a Manager: How New Managers Master the Challenges of Leadership By: Hill, Linda A. Abstract—In your career, or anyone's, there is one transition that stands out as the most crucial—going... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

December 2021 (Revised May 2022)
Case

Troverie (A)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Lindsay N. Hyde and Olivia Graham

Six months after the August 2018 launch of Troverie, a U.S.-based online retailer of luxury watches, the average cost of acquiring a customer is much higher than originally projected, and the startup is incurring a substantial loss on each sales transaction. Could... View Details

Keywords: Startup; Luxury Goods; Customer Acquisition; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Luxury; Failure; Internet and the Web; Revenue; Fashion Industry; United States

April 2016
Teaching Note

IBM and the Reinvention of High School (C): Toward P-TECH's Rapid National Expansion

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Kelsi Stine-Rowe

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 316-130. This Teaching Note accompanies the third case in a 3-case series on P-TECH and the Reinvention of High School. The case focuses on the development and early diffusion of organizational innovation—how to create pilot projects for... View Details

Keywords: IBM; P-TECH; Stanley Litow; Robin Wilner; Cuomo; Scaling; Innovation; New York State; New York City; Business Model; Innovation Strategy; Innovation Leadership; Education; Business and Community Relations; Change; Technology Industry; New York (state, US); New York (city, NY)

January 2014
Case

Steven Carpenter at Cake Financial (Abridged)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Joseph B. Fuller and Shikhar Ghosh

Steven Carpenter reflects on the successes and failures of his recent venture, Cake Financial. Carpenter had just sold the four-year-old startup and was at work on a new business plan. But first, he wanted to understand why Cake Financial, a service that allowed users... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Internet; Financial Services Industry; Web Services Industry

September 2020
Supplement

Commonwealth Joe: January 2020 Update from CEO Robert Peck

By: Alexander J. MacKay

At the end of 2016, the leadership team of Commonwealth Joe Coffee Roasters—Robert Peck, Chase Damiano, and Jeremy Martin—had begun an ambitious retail expansion strategy in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area for their specialty coffee business. That October, they... View Details

Keywords: Cold Brew Coffee; Specialty Coffee; On-premise Coffee Market; Retail Expansion Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Brands and Branding; Expansion; Strategy; Decision Making; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry

13 Mar 2018
First Look

March 13, 2018

best-in-class businesses for the rapidly evolving mobile ecosystem. Now, after nearly two frenetic years, he faces a slew of strategic questions. In which Hatch ventures should he continue to invest money... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2022
Teaching Note

AptDeco: Circular Economy Furniture Marketplace

By: Ayelet Israeli

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 521-069. AptDeco, a used furniture marketplace, was growing rapidly in the tri-state area. The co-founders were confident that the business model, financial position, and unit economics positioned AptDeco for scaling in the massive $120... View Details

Keywords: E-Commerce Strategy; Mobile; Word-of-Mouth; Word Of Mouth; Word-of-mouth Marketing; Internet Marketing; Growth Strategy; Platform; Platforms; Two Sided Markets; Two-sided Market; Two-sided Marketplace; Two-Sided Markets; Two-sided Network; Black Entrepreneurs; Black Leadership; African Americans; African-American Protagonist; Circular; Peer-to-peer Markets; Furniture Industry; Growth Hacking; Monetization Strategy; Growth Management; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Marketing Channels; Digital Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Acquisition; Retention; Growth and Development Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Expansion; Brands and Branding; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Technology Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; North America; New York (city, NY); New York (state, US)

Fall 2020
Article

Sizing Up Corporate Restructuring in the COVID Crisis

By: Robin Greenwood, Benjamin Iverson and David Thesmar

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial and legal system will need to deal with a surge of financial distress in the business sector. Some firms will be able to survive, while others will face bankruptcy and thus need to be liquidated or reorganized. Many... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Health Pandemics; Economy; System Shocks; Financial Crisis; Restructuring

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27 Mar 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research, March 27, 2018

and output of analysts in emerging-market contexts. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54281 Self-Employment Dynamics and the Returns to Entrepreneurship By: Dillon, Eleanor W., and Christopher T. Stanton Abstract—Small View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2022 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Perch

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Stacy Straaberg and Julia Kelley

In May 2021, Perch CEO Chris Bell needed to decide whether his e-commerce aggregator company, which bought and scaled Amazon Marketplace brands, should acquire up to three acquisition targets. The prospective acquisitions, Web Deals Direct, HomeCo, and Future Brands,... View Details

March 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Pandora Radio: Fire Unprofitable Customers?

By: Willy C. Shih and Halle Alicia Tecco

Pandora Radio is at a crossroads. Founder Tim Westergren has just been told by a well known VC to get rid of his unprofitable customers in order to get his costs down, but Westergren is not sure that such actions are consistent with his company's business model.... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Satisfaction; Music Entertainment; Venture Capital; Profit; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Internet; Media and Broadcasting Industry