Publications

March 2000 (Revised May 2000)
Case

Evolution of eCoverage in the Online Insurance Market, The

David Riker, the founder and chairman of eCoverage, an online insurance company, describes the various phases of company development, such as presenting a business plan, gathering a management team, getting the word out, and running the site. View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Insurance Industry

09 Nov 2020
Video

Muhammad Musa

Muhammad Musa, the Executive Director of BRAC International since 2015, recalls how the founder Sir Abed Hazan Fazle led the NGO’s first international foray in Afghanistan in 2002, negotiating with conflicting parties to establish schools for girls. View Details

31 Oct 2019
Video

Syed Babar Ali

Syed Babar Ali, Founder of Packages Limited, Milkpak Limited (now Nestlé Pakistan Limited), and Lahore University of Management Sciences, discusses his experiences building a packaging company in Pakistan by... View Details

10 Jul 2023
Video

Advice to Underestimated Entrepreneurs

26 Jun 2015
Video

Hamdi Akın

Hamdi Akın, founder of infrastructure investment company Akfen Holding, describes how the military coup in Turkey in 1980 brought in a new generation of businesspeople and, especially after 1983, the... View Details

Video

Runa Khan

Runa Khan, Founder and Executive Director of Friendship, an NGO supporting some of the poorest regions in Bangladesh, describes how changes in climate over the last two decades have posed an existential threat to the communities she works with. View Details

June 2003 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Peace Winds Japan

By: John A. Quelch

Kensuke Onishi, the young entrepreneurial founder of an international Japanese nongovernment organization specializing in humanitarian relief in emerging economies, is considering its future strategic direction. This case includes extensive commentary on Peace Winds'... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Non-Governmental Organizations; Japan; Afghanistan; Iraq

Find at Harvard

October 2013
Case

Lufa Farms

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Robert Mackalski, Annelena Loeb and Lisa Mazzanti

In 2013, Mohamed Hage, founder of the rooftop farming business called Lufa Farms, thought his company had reached a level of maturity where scaling the business model was the next logical step. With two greenhouses already in Canada, he was looking into other locations... View Details

Keywords: Rooftop Farms; Agriculture; Greenhouse; Technology; Expansion; Strategic Partnerships; Cultivation; Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Canada

October 2011 (Revised September 2014)
Case

Moda Operandi: A New Style of Fashion Retail

By: Mukti Khaire

Moda Operandi is a startup in the fashion industry. The firm organizes online trunk shows of designers' collections, allowing its members to directly order clothes from the collections shown in Fashion Weeks all over the world. Moda Operandi conveys the preorders to... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Distribution Channels; Internet and the Web; Design; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry

May 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Performance Indicator

Performance Indicator is a start-up that holds patents on the use of color-change technology to indicate when golf balls have been damaged by exposure to water. Because golfers put two to five used golf balls into play for every one new ball they buy, the used golf... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Patents; Entrepreneurship; Sports; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

March 2023 (Revised May 2025)
Case

On

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karolin Frankenberger and Sascha Mader

Founded in 2010, in just one decade, the Swiss company On had established itself as a main player in global sports footwear and apparel. Based on an unconventional strategy which one of the founders labeled as “obsessively distinct,” On grew its sales with a compound... View Details

September 2009 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Urban Decay: A Great Idea

By: Lena G. Goldberg

Casual discussions of ideas for a new business can have unintended legal consequences and expectations about founder status and ownership shares may diverge widely. Using facts from a litigated case, the concept of inadvertent formation of a partnership is explored. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Spoken Communication; Lawsuits and Litigation; Ownership Stake; Partners and Partnerships