Publications

January 2023 (Revised May 2023)
Case

Steve Jobs: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Shirley Sun

This case traces the life of Steve Jobs who throughout his career flaunted convention and chose an unusual path to success. The case describes how Jobs, as young man, acquired an appreciation for aesthetics and the liberal arts, but was also quick to recognize and... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technology; Business Startups; Personal Characteristics; Leadership Style; Innovation; Work-life Balance; Innovation Leadership; Power and Influence; Success; Information Technology Industry; United States

September 2010 (Revised February 2014)
Case

The Global Sight Initiative

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

How to replicate a 'one of' social entrepreneurship effort: To cure blindness, Seva took the Aravind Eye Hospital & scaled it up to 100 hospitals globally. View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Medical Specialties; Health Care and Treatment; Globalization; Health Industry

Book Review

Review of Private Entrepreneurs in China and Vietnam: Social and Political Functioning of Strategic Groups by Thomas Heberer (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2003), translated by Timothy J. Gluckman.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Groups and Teams; China; Viet Nam

Find at Harvard

February 2007 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Urban Video Game Academy: Getting in the Game

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Susan Saltrick

Urban Video Game Academy was founded to enhance the academic and career prospects of urban youth. How will its founder grow it into a sustainable business? Provides an opportunity to discuss the challenges of social entrepreneurship and how to create a sustainable... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Social Enterprise; Change Management; Education; Education Industry; Video Game Industry

Ben Roth is the Purnima Puri and Richard Barrera Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit. He is a development economist that employs both economic theory and field experimentation to pursue questions in two overlapping... View Details

Brian L. Trelstad

Brian Trelstad is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School in the General Management Unit and the Faculty Chair of the Advanced Leadership Initiative. He teaches elective courses on Social Entrepreneurship and Systems... View Details

Keywords: education industry; health care; service industry; emerging market private equity; private equity (other); venture capital industry

February 2014 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Strava

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman and Sid Misra

Strava is a new fast-growing social network for the avid cyclist and runner. The Strava case traces the entrepreneurial journey of two serial entrepreneurs who have been co-founders in a prior venture, and who have co-founded Strava 3 years ago. The protagonists must... View Details

November 2017 (Revised April 2019)
Case

Summa Equity: Building Purpose-Driven Organizations

By: George Serafeim

In 2015, Reynir Indahl left top Nordic private equity firm Altor Equity Partners to found Summa Equity (Summa). After long contemplation following the financial crisis, Indahl was convinced the financial system was producing negative externalities and that the current... View Details

01 Mar 2023
News

Step Change

care, transportation, edtech, and fintech sectors. Ayman Ismail, assistant professor of entrepreneurship and founding director of the American University in Cairo’s (AUC) Venture Lab, pegs the earliest movements of Egypt’s venture capital... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; photographed by Abdelrahman Gabr – Koree; entrepreneurship; women; venture capital; Egypt; developing economies; Finance

January 2017 (Revised March 2018)
Case

United Housing—Otis Gates

By: Steven Rogers and Mercer Cook

Otis Gates, the only African-American in his HBS graduating class, is an entrepreneur from greater Boston area and has built a successful affordable housing firm. Along the way, he and his partners have contributed countless hours of community service to the... View Details

Keywords: Affordable Housing; Real Estate; Community Engagement; Social-good; Request For Proposal; Diversity; Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Moral Sensibility; Fairness; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Housing; Business and Community Relations; Real Estate Industry

16 Mar 2021
Blog Post

2+2 Where Are They Now Spotlight: Smitha Das (MBA 2018)

question: what is the most effective way for me to make a difference in the world? Is it through public service, impact investing, social entrepreneurship or even academia? The 2+2 program gave me the runway... View Details

2013
Dissertation

Designing Freemium: A Model of Consumer Usage, Upgrade, and Referral Dynamics

By: Clarence Lee, Vineet Kumar and Sunil Gupta

Abstract. Over the past decade "freemium" (free + premium) has become the dominant business model among internet start-ups for its ability to acquire and monetize a large install-base with limited marketing resources. Freemium is a hybrid strategy where a firm offers... View Details

Keywords: Discrete-Continuous Choice Dynamic Structural Models; Bayesian Estimation; Word-of-Mouth; Digital Services; Freemium; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Motivation and Incentives; Marketing Strategy; Internet and the Web; Consumer Behavior; Marketing Reference Programs; Business Startups

01 Jun 2023
News

Action Plan: Net Proceeds

“I’m a root-cause kind of guy,” says Robert Goodwin (GMP 3, 2007), reflecting on a military, government, and civilian career that has taken him from counterdrug operations in Colombia to assisting with the peace process in Sudan to rebuilding the health care system in... View Details

Keywords: April White; recycling; corporate social responsibility; waste management; water; Waste Management and Remediation Services; Corporate Services

22 Feb 2022
News

New Urban Order

Currently an adjunct associate professor at NYU’s Stern School, where he teaches about commercializing carbon-reduction technologies in the course Disruption, Entrepreneurship, and Social Impact, Carty points to the significant potential... View Details

Keywords: Kathleen Fu, Deborah Blagg, Julia Hanna, and Maureen Harmon; illustrations by; energy; environment; sustainability; entrepreneurship; Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation; Transportation; Water, Sewage and Supply Systems; Utilities; Construction of Buildings; Construction; Waste Management and Remediation Services; Corporate Services

Teaching

Overview

By: Brian L. Trelstad

My teaching focuses on innovation and effectiveness in the social sector. My principal course is on Social Entrepreneurship & Systems Change, and it tries to understand how small teams launch new initiatives to solve big, global, systemic problems. I also teach... View Details

December 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Ebony Magazine

By: Steven Rogers and Derrick Jackson

For nearly 75 years, the Johnson Publishing Company has been the most successful African American magazine publisher. Its flagship Ebony magazine was an iconic coffee table fixture for decades in black households of all classes, making founder John H. Johnson... View Details