Publications

25 May 2015
Blog Post

RapidSOS Wins the HBS New Venture Competition

HBS is an incubator of ideas. Students come to campus for two years to collaborate, innovate, and dream big. There are many entrepreneurial opportunities and resources available for budding startups and young entrepreneurs – and one... 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

June 2013
Background Note

Mobilizing an Online Business

By: Peter Coles and Benjamin Edelman

Entrepreneurs starting online businesses often need to mobilize multiple sets of users or customers, each of whom hesitates to participate unless others join also. This case presents several challenges with similar structure. View Details

Keywords: Mobilization Strategy; Network Effects; Platforms; Internet; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Two-Sided Platforms; Technology Adoption; Innovation Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Computer Industry

Video

Rakhshan Zahid - Making A Difference

Video

Fadi Ghandour

Fadi Ghandour, founder of Dubai-based courier company Aramex and a leading entrepreneur in the Gulf, describes how he developed a corporate culture at Aramex which decentralized decision-making and encouraged... View Details

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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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

Harsh Mariwala

Keywords: Consumer Goods; Health; Beauty; Wellness

July 2023 (Revised May 2024)
Case

India Stack: Digital Public Infrastructure for All

By: Tarun Khanna, Anjali Raina and Rachna Chawla

Amitabh Kant, India Sherpa in the year of India's G20 Presidency, and Nandan Nilekani iconic tech entrepreneur wondered how to share India's model of digital public infrastructure to build social and economic inclusion. 'India Stack', the umbrella term for India's DPI... View Details

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Information Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Asia; South Asia; India

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

October 2018
Case

Accomplice: Scaling Early Stage Finance

By: Ramana Nanda, Raffaella Sadun and Olivia Hull

Accomplice, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Boston, is raising its second fund in November 2017. Since 2009, the firm has followed a seed-led investment model, investing in tech companies at the earliest stages, often when products and business models are... View Details

Keywords: Early Stage Finance; Seed Finance; Scouts; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Private Equity; Investment Portfolio; Organizational Structure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Partners and Partnerships; Networks; Adaptation; Corporate Strategy; Technology; Financial Services Industry; Massachusetts; Boston; Cambridge; United States

Profile

Hiroshi Mikitani

richest person in Japan. His skills as an entrepreneur became legend in his home country and around the world. Given the challenges entrepreneurs face in Japan—a dearth of venture capital, daunting... 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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13 Sep 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Entrepreneurship in the Natural Food and Beauty Categories Before 2000: Global Visions and Local Expressions

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Beauty & Cosmetics; Food & Beverage

March 2001 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Security Factors

By: Jay O. Light

A very successful entrepreneur who has built a factoring business in Atlanta is trying to decide how to sell this business. The issues are how to value the company and the strategy of selling. View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation; Strategy; Valuation; Atlanta

March 1998 (Revised August 1999)
Case

Band of Angels, The

"The Band of Angels" is a well-organized but independent group of wealthy entrepreneurs. This case details the principles and processes used by the band and offers two perspectives from entrepreneurs who have been financed. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Borrowing and Debt; Venture Capital; Perspective

Video

María Michelena

María Michelena, Executive Director of InGenia Uruguay and Chairwoman of OMEU, discusses how she first encountered OMEU’s initiatives to support women entrepreneurs in Uruguay, noting the importance of instilling self-confidence in younger generations. View Details

April 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Sanjeev Kapoor: The Recipe for Success

By: Boris Groysberg and Mahima Rao-Kachroo

India's most recognized celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor has been an integral part of the country's food industry since 1993. As a celebrity chef, Kapoor enjoyed a 17-year run of his hit TV cooking show “Khana Khazana,” published more than 100 cookbook titles in multiple... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Business Ventures; Change; Decision Making; Entrepreneurship; Food; Leadership; Management; Markets; Media; Organizations; Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Quality; Relationships; Technology; Food and Beverage Industry; India; South Asia