Publications

07 Jan 2013
Lessons from the Classroom

Culture Changers: Managing High-Impact Entrepreneurs

Professor Mukti Khaire's challenge to management students is lofty, even by Harvard MBA standards. Don't just change the way people live, change the way they think. Change culture. In her new elective course, Creative High-Impact... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Beauty & Cosmetics; Food & Beverage; Entertainment & Recreation; Information; Publishing

01 Jul 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Entrepreneurs and the Co-Creation of Ecotourism in Costa Rica

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones and Andrew Spadafora; Tourism

December 1998
Article

Entrepreneurs and Business Performance in Nineteenth Century France

By: Tom Nicholas, Elisa Boccaletti and James Foreman-Peck

A popular explanation for the supposed "delayed industrialisation" of the nineteenth century French economy has been the inappropriate attitudes and actions of the managerial classes and family firms. To address these claims we model the supply and demand for... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Performance; Economy; Management; Success; Opportunities; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Saving; Higher Education; Training; Demand and Consumers; France

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2006
Working Paper

Skill vs. Luck in Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital: Evidence from Serial Entrepreneurs

By: Paul A. Gompers, Anna Kovner, Josh Lerner and David S. Scharfstein

This paper argues that a large component of success in entrepreneurship and venture capital can be attributed to skill. We show that entrepreneurs with a track record of success are more likely to succeed than first time entrepreneurs and those who have previously... View Details

Keywords: Return On Investment; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Success; Experience and Expertise

Article

Immigrant Entrepreneurs in U.S. Financial History, 1775-1914

Throughout its history, the U.S. has been the beneficiary of a worldwide in-migration of entrepreneurial talent. This article surveys finance, one of the many sectors in which immigrants made a conspicuous impact. Part I demonstrates the dominant role of immigrants in... View Details

Keywords: History; Talent and Talent Management; Groups and Teams; Entrepreneurship; Policy; Immigration; Banks and Banking; United States

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31 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

One Quarter of Entrepreneurs in the United States Are Immigrants

Debates over the pluses and minuses of immigrant entrepreneurs on the American economy are white hot, but one thing seems stubbornly lacking from them: facts. The arguments are familiar by now. Immigrants take jobs from native-born... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

12 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

The Untold Story of ‘Green’ Entrepreneurs

In the 1920s, on pitch black nights in rural eastern Montana, the farmhouse owned by the parents of brothers Marcellus and Joe Jacobs stood out for one reason: it had light, although located far from power lines and gasoline supplies. It was a beacon in the dark that... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

1988
Chapter

Encouraging Innovation and Entrepreneurs in Bureaucratic Companies

By: R. M. Kanter

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design

June 2009 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Mrs. Ebtissam Algosaibi: An Entrepreneur in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Mrs. Ebtissam Algosaibi has created the leading high end jewelry company in the Middle East, Erum Jewelry, based in her home town of Alkhobar, Saudi Arabia. She believes Erum has the potential to be a world player similar to Cartier and Chopard. How should she expand... View Details

Keywords: Gender Characteristics; Entrepreneurship; Global Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Opportunities; Expansion; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Al-Khubar; Middle East

February 2017
Article

Resident Networks and Corporate Connections: Evidence from World War II Internment Camps

By: Lauren Cohen, Umit Gurun and Christopher J. Malloy

We demonstrate that simply by using the ethnic makeup surrounding a firm’s location, we can predict, on average, which trade links are valuable for firms. Using customs and port authority data on the international shipments of all U.S. publicly traded firms, we show... View Details

Keywords: Information Networks; Trade Links; Firm Behavior; Networks; Geographic Location; Ethnicity; Organizations; Trade

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October 2020 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Women Entrepreneurs and Tech Ecosystems: One City, Two Realities, and Four Diverse Women

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Joyce J. Kim

Four diverse women entrepreneurs launched their ventures in a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem that was part of a shift to a creative technology-driven economy for Miami. Although Miami was rated the #1 U.S. city for startups in 2017, the region contained structural... View Details

Keywords: Female Entrepreneur; Entrepreneurial Ecosystems; Inclusion; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Racism; Sexism; Start-up; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Diversity; Gender; Race; Prejudice and Bias; Innovation and Invention; City; Culture; Miami

December 2011 (Revised October 2014)
Background Note

Business Model Analysis for Entrepreneurs

By: Thomas Eisenmann

This note defines a business model and its major elements: a customer value proposition, a technology and operations management plan, a go-to-market plan, and a profit formula. For each element, the note lists questions that an entrepreneur must address when evaluating... View Details

Keywords: Business Model

02 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

The Success of Persistent Entrepreneurs

When it comes to entrepreneurship, nothing says success like a track record of previous wins. Entrepreneurs with a history of success are much more likely to succeed in new ventures than first-timers or... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

2016
Working Paper

Food Stamp Entrepreneurs

By: Gareth Olds

This paper explores how eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamps Program) affects firm formation. Using a variety of identification strategies, I show that expanded SNAP eligibility in the mid-2000s... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Welfare or Wellbeing

Research Summary

Immigrant Policymakers and Entrepreneurs

Since completing his prize-winning biography of Joseph Schumpeter in 2007 and his book, American Business since 1920 in 2009, Professor McCraw has been working on two new books about immigrants who came to the United States and became important policymakers... View Details

November 2011 (Revised August 2012)
Background Note

Customer Discovery and Validation for Entrepreneurs

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Thomas Eisenmann and Steven G. Blank

Provides practical guidelines for conducting market research to explore and validate demand for entrepreneurial offering. Explains how the research objectives of entrepreneurs might differ from those relevant to managers evaluating product or service offerings to... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Entrepreneurship

March 2020 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Jeffrey Deitch: Art Entrepreneur

By: Henry McGee, Rohit Deshpandé and Sarah Gulick

Jeffrey Deitch is an influential gallery owner and art entrepreneur. An HBS alumnus generally credited with developing the field of bank art advisory and financing services, Deitch has had a storied career in both the commercial and non-profit art world. Wrestling with... View Details

Keywords: Cultural Entrepreneurship; Arts; Personal Development and Career; Fine Arts Industry; New York (city, NY); Los Angeles