Publications

9 AM – 10 AM EDT, 03 Apr 2019
HBS Online

HBS Online Entrepreneurship Essentials

Master a proven framework for building and financing new ventures and learn to speak the language of the start-up world. Program Dates: April 3, 2019 - May 1, 2019 View Details

9 AM – 9 AM EDT, 12 Sep 2018
HBS Online

HBX Entrepreneurship Essentials

Master a proven framework for building and financing new ventures and learn to speak the language of the start-up world. Program Dates: September 12, 2018 - October 10, 2018 View Details

20 Oct 2009
First Look

First Look: October 20

School Case 310-011 Acumen Fund is a global venture capital firm with a dual purpose: it looks for a return on its investments, and it also seeks entrepreneurial solutions to global poverty. This case... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

05 Oct 2021
Blog Post

First-Gen Voices: Eric Westphal on Tapping into the Global Alumni Network & Making a Difference Across Borders

alumni-founded e-commerce startup for his HBS internship. Yet what might seem like a direct entrepreneurial path was anything but. Westphal’s life and career have crossed country lines, cultures, and industries, and continue to lead him... View Details

January 2016 (Revised November 2019)
Case

Blackstone at Age 30

By: Josh Lerner, John D. Dionne and Amram Migdal

Since its IPO in 2007 and following the global financial crisis, Blackstone largely outpaced its alternative investment firm peers in assets under management, new business launches, profitability, and market capitalization. Under the leadership of Stephen A.... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Asset Management; Private Equity; Financial Services Industry; New York (city, NY)

December 1999 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Hermes Systems

By: Michael L. Tushman and Daniel Radov

Covers the history of Hermes, a large telecommunications and network equipment company, as it grows from a single business firm to a diversified firm from 1980-95. Examines the use of entrepreneurial subsidiaries for product development and fast growth. Other issues... View Details

Keywords: History; Leadership; Business Subsidiaries; Diversification; Growth Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Divisions; Problems and Challenges; Product Development; Technology Industry

2017
Working Paper

Self-Employment Dynamics and the Returns to Entrepreneurship

By: Eleanor W. Dillon and Christopher T. Stanton

Small business owners and others in self-employment have the option to transition to paid work. If there is initial uncertainty about entrepreneurial earnings, this option increases the expected lifetime value of self-employment relative to pay in a single year. This... View Details

Keywords: Self-employed; Small Business; Business Earnings; Entrepreneurship; Ownership; Compensation and Benefits

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04 Dec 2006
Research & Ideas

The Money Connection—Understanding VC Networks

faculty, Toby Stuart studies networks and how they enable or impede certain organizational and entrepreneurial behaviors. In a working paper, "The Evolution of Venture Capital Investment Networks,"... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services

January 2001 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Lawyers & Leases

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Michele Lutz

Profiles Rajath Chaundry, an aspiring entrepreneur, as he attempts to secure office space for his growing team, select a lawyer, and continue to build his fledgling enterprise, eLearning.com. Designed to be used in an entrepreneurial management or small business course... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Ventures; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Intellectual Property; Management Succession; Leasing; Negotiation; Education Industry; Legal Services Industry

March 2020
Case

Cafe Kenya

By: Lynda M. Applegate and James T. Kindley

This case describes Café Kenya (CK), a Kenyan-based chain of casual quick-food restaurants. The chain was started in 2011 in Nairobi by Nekesa Kuria. Kuria started Café Kenya and grew it by reinvesting profits into company stores and through franchising. She also... View Details

Keywords: Restaurants; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Kenya

September 2022
Article

Experimentation and Start-up Performance: Evidence from A/B Testing

By: Rembrand Koning, Sharique Hasan and Aaron Chatterji

Recent scholarship has argued that experimentation should be the organizing principle for entrepreneurial strategy. Experimentation leads to organizational learning, which drives improvements in firm performance. We investigate this proposition by exploiting the... View Details

Keywords: Experimentation; A/B Testing; Data-driven Decision-making; Organizational Learning; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Business Startups; Learning; Performance; Decision Making

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11 Jun 2018
Blog Post

Meet the 2018-2019 Blavatnik Fellows in Life Science Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship in the HBS Community There are a multitude of entrepreneurship programs and resources available to students and alumni in the HBS and Harvard Ecosystem. While attending HBS, students have access to countless offerings to help guide them through their... View Details

December 2017
Article

Is There a Doctor in the House? Expert Product Users, Organizational Roles, and Innovation

By: Riitta Katila, Sruthi Thatchenkery, Michael Christensen and Stefanos A. Zenios

We explore the impact on innovation that professional end-users of a product have as inventors, executives, and board members in a young firm. In contrast to prior literature, which has emphasized technology roles, we put the spotlight on the executive and governance... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; User Innovation; Healthcare; Innovation and Management; Entrepreneurship; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

March 1992 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Lada do Brasil

By: James E. Austin and Helen Shapiro

In an effort to capitalize on the entrepreneurial opportunity presented by the Brazilian government's trade liberalization, a Panamanian automobile trading company launched a business of importing the Russian made Lada cars into Brazil. The company confronts a complex... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Transformation; Economics; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Capital; Policy; Competition; Auto Industry; Brazil

July 2020
Case

Amanda and Kristen: Mented Cosmetics

By: Steven Rogers, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Alterrell Mills

The co-founders (Black HBS alumnae) of an e-commerce beauty startup explore the unmet needs within the beauty industry. This case study examines the entrepreneurial opportunities that come from identifying an underserved market, specifically within the Black community... View Details

Entrepreneurial ventures often fail in the developing world because of the lack of something taken for granted in the developed world: trust. Over centuries, the developed world has built customs and institutions such as enforceable contracts, an impartial legal... View Details

24 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

How To Be an Angel Investor

far better investor. A Short Lecture On Entrepreneurial Evaluation, Harvard Style Bear with us while we explain the framework developed by William Sahlman and Howard Stevenson at Harvard Business School. This is one of the areas in the... View Details

Keywords: by David Amis & Howard Stevenson

November 1996 (Revised December 1996)
Case

SAP America

By: David A. Garvin and Artemis March

SAP America has grown at an explosive rate. This case describes the company's strategy, organization, and culture, with special attention to its approach to partnering and its sales and consulting process, which have been instrumental in allowing growth to proceed. Now... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Growth Management; Demand and Consumers; Organizational Culture; Alliances; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; United States

November 2000
Case

Model E: An Incubated Enterprise

By: Myra M. Hart

Provides a close-up view of an entrepreneurial search for opportunity, the role of incubators in the process, and the development of a viable business concept. Also depicts the changes made to the business concept as new people (with new expertise and experience) are... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Transformation; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Problems and Challenges; Internet and the Web