Publications

06 Oct 2015
First Look

October 6, 2015

technology and improved digital communication have been explored in a variety of contexts, the impact on economic activity—from consumer and entrepreneurial behavior to the ways in which governments determine policy—is less well... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2004
Article

Corporate Venturing: The Origins of Unilever's Pregnancy Test

By: Geoffrey Jones and Alison Kraft

The relative ability of different sizes of firm and organisational designs to develop and sustain dynamic capabilities in innovation and create new businesses remains a matter of contention. While Chandler among many others has emphasised the pre-eminent role of large... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Organizational Design; Technological Innovation; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Brands and Branding; Multinational Firms and Management; Product Development; Product Launch; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Great Britain

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Latin America - Global

societies can create environments where individuals have better opportunities to thrive, contributing to the well-being of the entire community. New Research on the Region February 2025 Case Hyperscaling Dreams: Ualá’s Path from Startup... View Details

Research Summary

Research

The founding and expansion of new firms is central to innovation and economic growth, but the determinants of a new idea’s success are difficult to ascertain. The decision to form a new firm and its ultimate outcome are impacted by ownership structure, financing... View Details

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Negotiation, Organizations & Markets - Faculty & Research

customer questions. The breakfast cereal startup enabled users to order personalized muesli on its website by choosing from 75 organic ingredients for a total of 566 quadrillion potential muesli combinations. mymuesli’s customization... View Details

17 Jan 2023
In Practice

8 Trends to Watch in 2023

As 2023 begins, businesses and employees face an uncertain economy and labor market, as the twin dilemmas of inflation and interest rates weigh on forecasts. Harvard Business School faculty share the top trends that they believe will shape the workplace and markets... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

February 2013
Case

18 Months in a Startup: Zaggora.com

By: Tom Nicholas

The founders of Zaggora reflected back on a tumultuous year-and-a-half in which they had generated, from just $40,000 in personal savings, a multi-million dollar sportswear enterprise selling Hotpants to women. These were hotpants not of the 1960s hipster variety, but... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Growth Management; Problems and Challenges; Business Startups; Brands and Branding; Innovation and Invention; Corporate Finance; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry

27 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 27

PublicationsThe Founder's Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup Authors:Noam Wasserman Publication:The Kauffman Foundation Series on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Princeton University Press, in... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

May 2020 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Amy Klopfenstein and Amram Migdal

In November 2019, Sandra Richter, co-founder and CEO of Soofa, a network of advertising-supported digital bulletin boards, must decide between two different fundraising and expansion plans for her company. One plan entails raising $15 million in a Series A round and... View Details

29 Apr 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Exclusive Preferential Placement as Search Diversion: Evidence from Flight Search

Keywords: by Benjamin G. Edelman & Zhenyu Lai; Technology; Technology

William A. Sahlman

William Sahlman is a Baker Foundation Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

Mr. Sahlman received an A.B. degree in Economics from Princeton University (1972), an M.B.A. from Harvard University (1975), and a Ph.D. in Business... View Details

January 2014 (Revised May 2015)
Case

Yahoo: Both Sides of the Stamped Deal

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Lisa C. Mazzanti

In 2012, Marissa Mayer became the CEO of Yahoo!, a tech giant with a tumultuous past. When Mayer tries to reinvigorate the company, she hires Jacqueline Reses, who has a private equity background, to head both human resources and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). As part... View Details

Keywords: Mobile App; Acquisition-hire; Exit Strategy; Start-up; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Mergers and Acquisitions; Human Resources; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Product Development; Technology Industry; Sunnyvale; New York (city, NY)

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Skydeck - Alumni

improving India’s water quality and health outcomes Home Grown Naveen Tewari (MBA 2005) , founder of InMobi and now Glance, is at the forefront of a growing trend of global consumer technology companies created in Asia—not just powered by... View Details

August 2022
Supplement

Broadway Angels (2022)

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

In late June of 2022, Sonja Perkins, co-founder of Broadway Angels, contemplated the group’s future. She and her co-founders, Jennifer Fonstad, and Magdalena Yesil, started the group to gather together the most successful and powerful women in venture capital and... View Details

Keywords: Gender Equity; Impact; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Social and Collaborative Networks; Entrepreneurship; Gender; Mission and Purpose; Groups and Teams; Financial Services Industry

February 2021 (Revised May 2021)
Case

SafeGraph: Selling Data as a Service

By: Ramana Nanda, Abhishek Nagaraj and Allison Ciechanover

Set in January 2021, the CEO of SafeGraph, a four-year-old startup that sold Data as a Service, looked to the future. His aim was to become the most trusted source for data about a physical place. The company provided points of interest (POI) and foot traffic data on... View Details

Keywords: Data As A Service; Monetization; Pricing; Business Startups; Analytics and Data Science; Consumer Behavior; Analysis; Business Model; Health Pandemics; Information Industry; United States

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Finance - Faculty & Research

financial institutions, markets, and instruments contribute to this process. Our approach to research is distinguished by its unique combination of theory, empirical analysis, mathematical modeling, and field observations at companies. Recent Publications Hyperscaling... View Details

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California - Global

"Streak" By: Jeffrey F. Rayport , Nicole Tempest Keller and Nicole Luo In December 2024, Severin Hacker, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Duolingo, reflected on the remarkable evolution of the language-learning app he helped... View Details

May 2019 (Revised September 2019)
Case

Mobike and ofo: Dancing with Titans (A)

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Haibo Zhao

This case address pacing issues – how fast does a company need to scale? It also examines the role of investors in determining company strategy and exit.
Mobike and ofo were two dominant players in China’s emerging dockless bike-sharing market, that allowed users... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Competition; Value Creation; Governance; Economics; Business Startups; Strategy; Business Exit or Shutdown; Entrepreneurship; Infrastructure; Transportation; Bicycle Transportation; China

August 2011 (Revised August 2013)
Case

Career at a Crossroad: Roopa Rao

By: Noam Wasserman and Lisa Brem

Akhil Patel is passionate about his business idea: an innovative green technology fuel cell. He wants to dive in and commit to his startup, but Roopa Rao, his fiancée, is much more risk averse, his parents don't approve of the startup, and Akhil has an enticing... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Business Startups; Business Growth and Maturation; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Work-Life Balance; Family and Family Relationships