Publications

August 2021
Case

Mylestone: Can Multiple Pivots Preserve the Life of a Death Tech Startup?

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Marilyn Morgan Westner

Dave Balter and Jim Myers co-founded Mylestone, a death tech startup that applied technology to transform how grieving people memorialize the dead. The startup addressed a cultural problem and promised to solve a pressing need in the antiquated, multi-billion dollar... View Details

Keywords: Pivot; Startup; Business Model; Cryptocurrency; Ethical Decision Making; Emotions; Growth and Development Strategy; Ethics; Market Entry and Exit; Customer Relationship Management; Loss; Change Management; Relationships

March 2020 (Revised January 2023)
Case

Nadine Vogel: Transforming the Marketplace, Workplace, and Workforce for People with Disabilities

By: Lakshmi Ramarajan, Hannah Riley-Bowles and Michael Norris

In 2019, Nadine Vogel, founder and CEO of Springboard Consulting, a firm that worked with Fortune 500 companies on issues related to disability and their workforce, faced the decision of the best path forward to grow her small company. Should she build more and better... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Market Entry and Exit; Consulting Industry; United States; Florida; New York (state, US)

01 Jun 2003
News

Books

to make “transforming commitments” — managerial actions like exiting a legacy business, publicly committing to a new goal, or firing a powerful executive who defends the status quo. Such actions break the organization from the past and... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; Laura Singleton; Donald; Sull; Henry; Chesbrough; Rob; Austin; Leslie; Perlow; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

January 2011 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Paydiant

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Elizabeth C. Williamson and James Weber

Kevin Laracey, founder of Paydiant, needed to figure out how to launch a payment processing company with a new technology based on smart phones. Consumers had increasingly turned to electronic payment methods such as credit cards and debit cards to make purchases.... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Credit Cards; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Industry Structures; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Cooperation; Technology Adoption; Retail Industry

November 1996 (Revised December 1996)
Case

Rogers Communications, Inc.: The Wave

By: John A. Deighton, Karsten Voermann and Reginal Gilyard

Rogers Communications, Inc., Canada's largest cable television provider, is deciding how it should respond to developments that appear to portend the convergence of its industry with the computing and telecommunications industries. In particular, it is investigating... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Innovation and Invention; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Consumer Behavior; Technology Adoption; Telecommunications Industry; Canada

September 2008
Teaching Note

Chi Mei Optoelectronics (TN)

By: Willy C. Shih

Teaching Note for [608-123]. View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Information Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Standards; Industry Clusters; Supply Chain; Production; Experience and Expertise; Biotechnology Industry; Chemical Industry; Taiwan; Asia; Korean Peninsula; China

December 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Levenger Company

By: Myra M. Hart, Kristin Lieb and Victoria Winston

The Leveens started a high-end catalog business as a small home-based venture in 1987. It grew into a nationally recognized, $60 million company, offering products that ranged from unique pens and pencils to leather briefcases and fully furnished offices. In 1999, it... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Financial Liquidity; Business Exit or Shutdown; Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Value; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Globalization; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; United States

January 1986 (Revised December 1986)
Case

Smartfood

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of a major financing decision confronting the management and advisors of Smartfood, Inc., a company which hopes to market a cheese flavored popcorn product. The primary pedagogic objective is to teach students about matching the financing plan... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Market Entry and Exit; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Management; Food and Beverage Industry

Find at Harvard

February 2010 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Re-THINK-ing THINK: The Electric Car Company

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and David Kiron

On January 5, 2010, 48-year-old Richard Canny was on his way to meet the governor of Indiana. He was reading his newly issued press release announcing that THINK planned to start automobile production in Elkhart County, Indiana to launch its THINK City battery-operated... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Global Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Product Development; Production; Pollutants; Environmental Sustainability; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Norway; Indiana

24 Jul 2007
First Look

First Look: July 24, 2007

particular, the ability to collaborate with partners to achieve superior innovation performance. Yet despite this need, there is little guidance on how to develop or deploy this ability. This article describes the results of a study to understand the View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 2011 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Perella Weinberg Partners: New Firm, Old Values

By: Clayton S. Rose and Aman Malik

In the five years since it opened its doors, the investment banking boutique Perella Weinberg Partners had grown into a firm that advised a roster of blue-chip clients on critical transactions and had over $8 billion of client assets under management. The three... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Investment Banking; Growth and Development; Compensation and Benefits; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Going Public; Banking Industry

02 Jan 2001
Research & Ideas

Gurus in the Garage

advice. Can you create a good exit strategy for this person? Create a win-win situation? Maybe the customer will hire him." Learning by Observing Sanjeev Malaney, CEO of Media Tel (now MediaLinq) says... View Details

Keywords: by Dorothy Leonard & Walter Swap

23 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 23

2.0 tools and applications like blogging, search engine optimization, and social media. Students follow the growth of HubSpot, an entrepreneurial venture which, in its quest for growth, faces significant challenges including the following: developing market... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2007 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Chiaphua Group Vietnam

By: Nicolas P. Retsinas and Michael Shih-ta Chen

As part of its expansion and diversification strategy, the Chiaphua Group explored real estate investments in emerging markets. The Group was one of the largest privately held company groups based in Hong Kong, with international investments in a variety of... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Laws and Statutes; Emerging Markets; Market Entry and Exit; Business and Government Relations; Diversification; Hong Kong

March 1999 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Honda-Rover (C): "The Sting"

By: Ashish Nanda, James K. Sebenius and Ron Fortgang

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Joint Ventures; Alliances; Knowledge Sharing; Strategy; Contracts; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Auto Industry; United Kingdom

October 2023 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Recycle & Re-Match: The Future of Soccer Turfs

By: George Serafeim, Lena Duchene and Carlota Moniz

By August 2023, Re-Match, an artificial turf waste-to-value company, had operations in Denmark and the Netherlands and had recycled over 160,000 tons of waste and plastic fiber. With recent capital injection from the VC firm Verdane and a dual revenue business model,... View Details

01 May 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, May 1, 2018

Point’s market opportunity and growth rate but can be seen as a change in their growth strategy. The founder needs to decide his strategy for his next board meeting. Should he focus on past performance? Or should he spend time outlining... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 1986 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Mike Finkelstein (B)

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin, Charles Bryan and Ken Leet

Following his successful turnaround of WTXX, Waterbury, Mike Finkelstein joined Odyssey Partners with a mandate to build a communications company. From 1982-1985, he acquired three more stations, financing each as an independent partnership. However, increasing... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Cash; Business or Company Management; Bonds; Cost vs Benefits; SWOT Analysis; Alignment; Acquisition; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Communications Industry

March 2023
Case

Interior Collab

By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn

After venture capital-funded online interior design agency Homepolish collapsed, its former freelance designers met to discuss next steps. The bitter experience led some of them to create a workers’ collaborative called Interior Collab. The founding members needed to... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Human Capital; Growth and Development Strategy; Cooperative Ownership; Employee Ownership; Trust; Service Industry; Technology Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)