Publications

Find at Harvard

08 Mar 2022
Blog Post

Recalling My First Cold Call: A Conversation with Second-Year Students

startup venture. What do you remember about your first cold call?What I remember more vividly than my first cold call is when I was cold called and did not know the answer. I was in my first finance class... View Details

11 May 2022
Blog Post

MoMBAs: The Inspiring Student Mothers of HBS

event. We felt so loved! Zoe Ofer Year: First Mom of: Mika (16 months) Pre-HBS Industry: Intelligence Unit (Unit 8200) + Lawyer (commercial litigation) + Real Estate Investments Summer Internship: VC and working on a startup What is the... View Details

September 2023 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Honest Jobs: A Path to Redemption

By: Paul A. Gompers and Jeffrey Barkas

Founded by a formerly incarcerated job seeker, Honest Jobs' mission is to be the hub where people with criminal records come to build careers and employers come to find great talent. Honest Jobs faced early challenges as a two-sided platform for justice-involved job... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Venture Capital; Recruitment; Entrepreneurial Finance; Selection and Staffing; Digital Platforms; Job Search; Mission and Purpose; Expansion; Employment Industry; United States; Colorado; Ohio; Texas

05 Feb 2019
News

The First Five Years: Karan Shah (MBA 2016)

a three-person startup based out of our home. The difference in size and scale is often challenging, but is training me to compartmentalize my head space, wear different hats, and stay grounded! “While the PCL group is expanding borders... View Details

02 Oct 2017
What Do You Think?

Do Bitcoin and Digital Currency Have a Future?

tradable digital currencies that can be used to purchase future goods or services offered by the startup, possibly on more favorable terms than in the real market. According to one report, 140 startups have raised over $2 billion in this... View Details

Keywords: by James L. Heskett; Financial Services

July 2008 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Negotiating Equity Splits at UpDown

By: Noam Wasserman and Deepak Malhotra

Michael Reich is having severe doubts about how he split the equity with his co-founders two months ago, when they completed a one-page "November Agreement." Since then, Michael has found an angel investor and has worked non-stop on the business, while one co-founder... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Capital; Venture Capital; Equity; Compensation and Benefits; Negotiation; Partners and Partnerships

April 2024 (Revised February 2025)
Teaching Note

eBee: Affordable Mobility for Africa

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Gamze Yucaoglu and Jordan Mitchell

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 724-360.The case opens in March 2023, as Sten van der Ham and Jaap Maljers, CEO and co-founder of eBee, an electric bike (e-bike) company in Africa, are contemplating the different avenues for growth and path to profitability for the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Value Creation; Competition; Expansion; Logistics; Profit; Resource Allocation; Corporate Strategy; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Product Marketing; Entrepreneurial Finance; Bicycle Industry; Africa; Kenya

Web

Career Support - Business & Environment

startup companies. The symposium offers conference attendees the opportunity to network with leading professionals representing a diverse group of firms, markets, and geographies. (November) Coffee Chats Meet with BEI to discuss anything... View Details

November 2018
Case

David Hysong and SHEPHERD Therapeutics

By: Ananth Raman, John Masko and Aldo Sesia

In 2016, David Hysong, at age 27, found out he had a rare, incurable cancer. Rather than wait around to die, Hysong, a recent graduate of Harvard Divinity School, decided to launch a biotechnology company called Shepherd Therapeutics to development treatments for his... View Details

Keywords: Cancer; Therapeutics; Drugs; Health Care and Treatment; Business Startups; Product Development; Financing and Loans; Growth and Development Strategy; Problems and Challenges

23 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

COVID Was Supposed to Increase Bankruptcies. Instead, They've Gone Down.

should be afraid of taking advantage of those benefits as well, if they are right for them.” Policymakers may want to consider making it easier to file for Chapter 7, Kluender says. In a Chapter 13 proceeding, filers are allowed to View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

28 Apr 2022
Blog Post

Harvard Team Wins Second Place in MIINT Impact Investing Competition

Harvard MIINT faculty mentor. The five teams of Harvard students pitched investment opportunities across various sectors and geographies, from an anti-bully EdTech startup in Latin America to a cultivated meat company focused on... View Details

11 Aug 2021
Blog Post

The Equity Network: How HBS Helped Me Launch a Tech-Enabled Social Enterprise

we also took advantage of Harvard’s entrepreneurial resources. We conducted dozens of customer interviews in Startup Bootcamp, leveraged the Rock Center and Innovation Lab’s expert office hours, and became a semifinalist in the HBS New... View Details

April 2023
Case

Drive Capital: A New Road for Venture

By: Paul A. Gompers and Alicia Dadlani

Founded by two former Sequoia Capital partners, Columbus-Ohio-based Drive Capital’s mission was to build a world-class venture capital firm in the middle of the U.S., an area historically overlooked by VCs. Drive faced early challenges of attracting investors, sourcing... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Business Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States; Ohio

19 Apr 2024
News

Alumni Host Energy CEO Summit in Houston; Austin Club Co-Hosts SXSW Reception

Clubs News Clubs News Houston Alumni Host Annual Energy CEO Summit The HBS Club of Houston presented its fourth annual Energy CEO Summit on April 3, which featured four of the industry’s top CEOs discussing trends and challenges around the theme of “Energy Security and... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

28 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Coronavirus Could Create a 'Bankruptcy Pandemic'

to be processed more slowly, leading to longer stays in the bankruptcy “hospital.” Not only would professional fees go up (especially burdensome for smaller businesses), but process delays would force companies to wait longer to obtain new View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Banking

27 Sep 2021
Blog Post

Working to Change the Food System

living in San Francisco working at a data science startup as a product manager. I have always gravitated toward technology and science throughout my life, and machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data science were fascinating as... View Details

October 2008 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Apple's Core

By: Noam T. Wasserman

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak are best friends who enjoy pulling pranks together and talking about electronics. After several small collaborations, Jobs pitches Wozniak on starting a company together to sell computers based on Wozniak's design for a personal computer.... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Equity; Managerial Roles; Partners and Partnerships; Conflict Management