Publications

May 2016
Case

Seaside Organics

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Alisa Zalosh

This case follows Sara Norton, a soccer player-turned-serial entrepreneur, as she transforms Seaside Organics from a fledgling startup into an $89 million company. Informed by the successes and failures of her first organics venture, WellBar, Norton tries to balance... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Organizational Structure; Personal Development and Career; Entrepreneurship; Personal Characteristics; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Conflict and Resolution; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

30 Apr 2015
News

‘We’re In A Race For Talent': Mass. High-Skilled Visa Workaround Back In Budget

16 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 16, 2008

Abstract This paper presents evidence of performance persistence in entrepreneurship. We show that entrepreneurs with a track record of success are much more likely to succeed than first-time entrepreneurs... View Details

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM EST, 10 Nov 2022
Virtual Programming

A Conversation on Entrepreneurship with Shark Tank Star Kevin O'Leary

Find out from "Mr. Wonderful" what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur and how to pitch a venture. The Harvard community is invited to join the HBS Entrepreneurship Club for a conversation with Kevin OLeary, moderated by Professor Reza Satchu. View Details

February 2019 (Revised July 2025)
Case

Theranos: Who Has Blood on Their Hands? (A)

By: Nien-hê Hsieh, Christina R. Wing, Emilie Fournier and Anna Resman

This case covers the rise and fall of Theranos, the company founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2004 to revolutionize the blood testing industry by creating a device that could provide from a small finger prick the same results and accuracy as intravenous blood draws. As... View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Corporate Accountability; Organizational Culture; Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Entrepreneurship; Lawsuits and Litigation

13 Feb 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Diversity in Innovation

Keywords: by Paul A. Gompers and Sophie Q. Wang; Financial Services; Education

February 2001 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Balance, Inc. (A)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Michele Lutz

Focuses on an entrepreneur who founded a successful health-food store and seeks to expand his retail concept. Illustrates the challenges he faces as he recruits his top management team. View Details

Keywords: Distribution Channels; Executive Compensation; Agreements and Arrangements; Outcome or Result; Recruitment; Management Teams; Selection and Staffing; Food and Beverage Industry

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01 Jun 2017
Cold Call Podcast

Building India’s First $100 Billion Company

Keywords: Re: Sunil Gupta; Banking; Financial Services

25 Mar 2022
Video

Omobola Johnson

Omobola Johnson, the former Minister of Communication Technology in Nigeria, discusses her transition into a venture capital career and highlights how venture capital enables young Nigerian entrepreneurs to address local challenges. View Details

March 2018 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Edward Lewis: Essence Magazine

By: Steven Rogers and Jacqueline Adams

Essence, the first magazine aimed at African-American women, was created by four, young, Black entrepreneurs in the aftermath of massive racial and political upheaval in the United States in 1968. The venture was a financial, branding and cultural success. By 2005, the... View Details

Research Summary

Pioneer- Entrepreneurship and Industry Emergence

This set of projects studies entrepreneurship in a creative industry-i.e. high-end fashion in India-with the main aim of understanding industry emergence and the role of pioneer-entrepreneurs.

Fashioning an Industry: How Entrepreneurs and Others... View Details

July–August 2021
Article

Lowering the Bar? External Conditions, Opportunity Costs, and High-Tech Startup Outcomes

By: Annamaria Conti and Maria P. Roche

We assess the heterogeneous impact of economic downturns on individuals’ decisions to bring high-technology ideas to the market in the form of new ventures. We thereby examine how worsening labor market conditions influence individuals’ opportunity costs of starting... View Details

Keywords: Necessity Entrepreneurship; Economic Conditions; Recessions; High-tech Startups; Opportunity Costs; Entrepreneurship; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Business Startups; Information Technology; Performance; Labor

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Video

Naguib Sawiris

Naguib Sawiris, Chairman of Orascom TMT Investments, shares advice for aspiring entrepreneurs in emerging markets, emphasizing the value of education, perseverance, and dedication to hard work particularly at the start of one’s career. View Details

Lynda M. Applegate

Lynda M. Applegate is a Baker Foundation Professor at HBS and is Chair of the Advisory Committee for Harvard University’s Masters Degree of Liberal Arts in Finance and Management at the Harvard University Extension School. She has also played a... View Details

03 Nov 2022
Op-Ed

Feeling Separation Anxiety at Your Startup? 5 Tips to Soothe These Growing Pains

adviser and angel investor. This article originally appeared on her blog, Being FA and Other Ponderings. You Might Also Like: Who Will Give You the Best Professional Guidance? All Those Zoom Meetings May Boost Connection and Curb Loneliness How View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

20 Dec 2010
News

Harvard Business School Launches Fund for Student Start-Ups

2016
Working Paper

Pivoting Isn't Enough: Principled Pragmatism and Strategic Reorientation in New Ventures

By: Rory McDonald and Cheng Gao

New technology ventures often experience deviations from their original plans that oblige them to reorient in pursuit of better fit between their evolving products and target customers. Yet research is largely silent on how entrepreneurs explain and justify their... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Reorientation; Technology Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Product Development Processes; Organizational Adaptation; Qualitative Methods (General); Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Communication; Entrepreneurship; Alignment; Innovation and Invention; Product Development

31 May 2022
Cold Call Podcast

Corruption: New Insights for Fighting an Age-Old Business Problem

Keywords: Re: Tarun Khanna & Geoffrey G. Jones

January 2002
Case

Metromove.com Business Plan

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Sheila Marcelo

Enables analysis of a business plan in a volatile market. Also enables analysis of the decisions entrepreneurs must make as they start a new business, develop the concept, choose partners, and find funding. View Details

Keywords: Business Plan; Decisions; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Business or Company Management; Partners and Partnerships