startup - Publications - Faculty & Research

December 16, 2019
Article

Why Your Startup Won't Last

By: Ranjay Gulati and Vasundhara Sawhney

Why do some startups that have crossed the threshold of “product-market fit” and have a viable business model still fail? This article begins by exploring the argument that most startups need more professionalization to thrive. Founders resist putting in place... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Organizational Structure; Growth and Development Strategy

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12 PM – 1 PM EST, 05 Dec 2016
Webinars: Career

The Startup Rules of Three

Do you have a brilliant idea for a startup? Becoming a successful entrepreneur requires more than just an inspiring concept and a plan for development. There is a reason as many as 75 percent of venture capital-backed startups fail, and nearly 95 percent of all... View Details

March 2015
Background Note

Equity Compensation in Startup Ventures

By: Ramana Nanda, Robert White and Stephanie Puzio

Setting equitable and "market" level compensation for founders and early employees of startups is one of the most important elements of a new venture. It is not only central to attract and retain the best human capital for the startup, but is critical to align... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Equity; Finance; Entrepreneurship

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16 Oct 2017
Research & Ideas

The Most Successful Startups Have Hands-On Founders

Source: iPhoto Startup founders with a hands-on management style are more likely to retain employees and see their firms thrive, new research shows. The results are particularly applicable to knowledge-intensive technology firms, where... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

01 Oct 2022
News

Startup Chemistry and the Coworking Environment

09 Aug 2016
Blog Post

Startup Balancing Act

said to my coworker, and with that I stepped off the hover board. “Hopefully, you can learn it by the end of the summer” he replied while laughing. I gave him a firm handshake and returned to my desk. My summer internship is at a medical device View Details

Keywords: Health Care

16 Nov 2009
News

Spotlight on Startups

Keywords: Information; Telecommunications; Information; Management

Video

The Startup Rules of Three

01 Apr 1997
News

An Orchestral Startup

with Yoo hiring topflight young musicians and Lim handling the business end, Metamorphosen came to life with a startup budget of $75,000 raised from charitable donations (the orchestra is a tax-exempt entity), corporate sponsors, program... View Details

Keywords: Linda Goodspeed

17 Mar 2016
News

The 124-Year-Old Startup

Fifteen years after taking over the top spot from “Neutron Jack” Welch, Jeff Immelt (MBA 1982) talks to Bloomberg Businessweek for a wide-ranging consideration of his tenure at the $122 billion giant, including the company’s latest retooling as a software View Details

20 Aug 2021
News

Why Startups Fail

02 Apr 2012
News

'People Problems' Sink Most Startups

November 22, 2022
Article

Why Startups Should Embrace Radical Transparency

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang

After high-profile startup failures like FTX or Theranos, investors, employees, customers, and policymakers all ask what might have been done differently to ensure accountability and prevent mismanagement. But startup founders should join that list: It’s in their... View Details

Keywords: Start-up; Business Startups; Entrepreneurial Finance; Corporate Accountability

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October 2018 (Revised July 2019)
Case

BulkWhiz: Negotiating as a Startup Founder in the UAE

By: Katherine Coffman, Christine Exley and Alpana Thapar

This case follows Amira Rashad as she founds BulkWhiz, a Dubai-based buy-in-bulk grocery delivery platform. Following its launch in September 2017, BulkWhiz experiences rapid growth of 30 percent per month in the United Arab Emirates. Despite this initial success,... View Details

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30 Apr 2021
News

If You Want Your Startup to Succeed, You Need to Understand Why Startups Fail

12 PM – 1 PM EST, 05 Dec 2017
Webinars: Career

The Startup Rules of Three

Do you have a brilliant idea for a startup? Becoming a successful entrepreneur requires more than just an inspiring concept and a plan for development. There is a reason as many as 75 percent of venture capital-backed startups fail, and nearly 95 percent of all... View Details

17 Apr 2017
Video

HBS Startup Bootcamp

September 2021 (Revised December 2023)
Case

On the Bubble: Startup Bootstrapping

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Tom Quinn and Annelena Lobb

Bubble was a software company in the low-code/no-code market, making tools that allowed users without traditional programming backgrounds or technical skills to build software. The case covers cofounder Joshua Haas’s engineering background, as he experienced a high... View Details

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2025
Working Paper

Code-Washing: Evidence from Open-Source Blockchain Startups

By: Ofir Gefen, Daniel Rabetti, Yannan Sun and Che Zhang

This study examines startups' management of source code repositories, distinguishing authentic developers ("code-producers''), from those inflating activity to mislead investors ("code-washers''). Using global blockchain startup and GitHub data, we find that... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Open Source Distribution; Business Startups

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