Publications

July 2024
Case

Roja Garimella: Developing a Founder's Judgment

By: Reza Satchu and Patrick Sanguineti

Roja Garimella’s path to becoming a founder was anything but straight. Setting her sights on a career in medicine since childhood, she committed to medical school with her acceptance to college. And yet, throughout her studies, she continually explored alternative... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Entrepreneurial Finance; Business Startups; Judgments; Financial Services Industry; Health Industry

September 2001 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Webvan

Examines Webvan's operations and the processes by which it delivers groceries that were ordered from the Internet to customers' homes. Recounts Webvan's history from founding through early 2001 and concentrates on the unique approaches to warehousing, delivery,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Failure; Business Startups; Consumer Products Industry; Service Industry

27 May 2022
Blog Post

Q&A with the HBS Armed Forces Alumni Association, MBA Class of 2023

Southern California; Political Science Military experience: Aircraft Maintenance Officer, US Air Force Why did you decide to pursue an MBA? Instead of pursuing an MBA directly after my service, I decided to join an edtech startup in San... View Details

Web

Judges - Alumni

Culture, B2B, B2C, Go-to-Market Strategy, Market Research, Marketing, Brand Building, Remote Work, Strategic Partnerships, Social Impact, Scaling, Product Roadmap, Pitch Feedback Advice Focus most of your energy on clearly articulating... View Details

October 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Fantuan

By: Feng Zhu and David Lane

In 2023, CEO Randy Wu was considering the optimal growth strategy for Fantuan, a restaurant food delivery platform that had expanded from its 2014 founding in Vancouver, Canada to serve the Chinese demand for Asian cuisine in urban markets across Australia, Canada, the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Customer Focus and Relationships; Diasporas; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Growth Management; Business Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Canada; United Kingdom; Australia

January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Uncle Nearest: Creating a Legacy

By: Hise Gibson, Archie L. Jones, Nicole Gilmore and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Fawn Weaver, as a Black woman and industry outsider in a capital-intensive, highly regulated, competitive and male-dominated spirits industry, successfully overcame numerous obstacles to launch a premium American whiskey brand, Uncle Nearest in 2017, which became the... View Details

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

17 Jan 2019
Blog Post

MBA Curriculum Spotlight: Short Intensive Programs (SIPs)

will evaluate innovative strategies to create new marketplaces and opportunities, we will examine the key challenges in competing with large incumbent firms, and how incumbents can defend their market shares. We are going to discuss... View Details

March 1995 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Stonyfield Farm: September 1994

Samuel Kaymen and Gary Hirshberg founded Stonyfield Farm in 1983, in part to demonstrate that "environmentally and socially responsible businesses can also be profitable." In 1994, the company has grown to over $21 million in revenues, derived mainly from refrigerated... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Food; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; New Hampshire; California; Russia

August 2018
Case

MISHA: Modernizing the World of Shisha

By: William R. Kerr and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in 2017 with two of the five co-founders of MISHA telling the company’s CEO Michal Portz that they believe it is time for the global venture to shut down its operations and cease investments. Portz and another co-founder believe MISHA can still... View Details

Keywords: Innovation And Management; Entrepreneurship; Private Sector; For-profit Firms; Business Strategy; Decision; Business Startups; Emerging Markets; Business Model; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Market Entry and Exit; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Value Creation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technology Industry; Qatar; United States

01 Jun 2022
News

A Sustainable Solution for Fashion

READY TO MAKE AN IMPACT READ MORE STORIES Syrup works by integrating a retailer’s data—historical and real-time transactions and inventory, e-commerce patterns, and marketing and promotion plans, among other things—with weather, search,... View Details

Keywords: April White

11 Feb 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

10 Rules Entrepreneurs Need to Know Before Adopting AI

tailored for their situation. Artificial intelligence should enable better solutions. Is the market ready to support your solution? As more of the world gets digitized, “datafication” (our ability to capture data from many aspects of the... View Details

Keywords: by Rocio Wu

13 Jun 2011
HBS Case

Mobile Banking for the Unbanked

we need.” The Harvard Business School case study Mobile Banking for the Unbanked explores two very different examples of mobile financial service models: WIZZIT, a third-party startup that teamed with a major bank to provide standard... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Banking; Communications; Telecommunications

Web

Baker Library / Bloomberg Center | About

information systems for Salomon Brothers. In 1981, with the idea for a technology company that would bring greater transparency and fairness to the financial system, he launched a small startup in a one-room office. Today, Bloomberg L.P.... View Details

11 Aug 2009
First Look

First Look: August 11, 2009

the average entry size for startups did not change following the deregulations. However, this result masks the differences in entry size among startups that failed within three years of entry and those that... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 Feb 2020
Blog Post

Trying Out New Career Options with SIPs (Short Intensive Programs)

transactions. In this short intensive program, faculty will evaluate innovative strategies to create new marketplaces and opportunities, examine the key challenges in competing with large incumbent firms, and show how incumbents can defend their View Details

November 2011 (Revised April 2016)
Case

Coco Chanel: Creating Fashion for the Modern Woman (A)

By: Mukti Khaire and Kerry Herman

Chanel, the iconic haute couture house, founded by Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in 1913, came to embody its founder's philosophy, taste, and style and set a distinctive and influential tone for women's fashion. Coming to prominence during the height of cultural modernity in... View Details

Keywords: Fashion And Creative Industries; Apparel Manufacturing; Business History; Business Growth and Maturation; Management Succession; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Brands and Branding; Fashion Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; North and Central America; Europe

December 2006 (Revised August 2008)
Case

Pervasis Therapeutics, Inc.

By: Robert F. Higgins and Virginia Fuller

In May 2005, Steve Bollinger was about to become president and chief operating officer of Pervasis Therapeutics, a small cell therapy start-up in Cambridge, Mass. If proven successful, Pervasis' product, Vascugel, could change the way vascular disease is treated and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Care and Treatment; Health Testing and Trials; Health Industry; Cambridge