Publications

12 Aug 2014
First Look

First Look: August 12

in entrepreneurship despite earning low risk-adjusted returns. This has lead to attempts to provide explanations-using both standard economic theory and behavioral economics-for why certain individuals may be attracted to such an... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2015
Case

Rubicon Global

By: William A. Sahlman and Hunter Ashmore

The case describes Rubicon Global, a startup that aimed to disrupt the waste management industry. The company started with a bold idea: create a cloud-based, full-service waste management company providing low-cost, highly efficient, and environmentally friendly... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Rubicon; Rubicon Global; Waste Management; Startups; Disruptive Technology; Technological Innovation; Disruptive Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Entrepreneurship; Wastes and Waste Processing; Business Startups; Corporate Finance; Service Industry

04 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Is Your Org Chart Stuck in a Rut? Try a Scientific Experiment

transitioning from producing boutique products for a few customers to more mainstream products for a wider customer base, and wondered how to reorganize her company’s team structure accordingly. Another wanted to figure out how to maintain a culture of View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

July 2024
Case

Google Stadia: Game On or Game Over?

By: Derek C. M. van Bever and Akshat Agrawal

This case explores Google leadership's decision to pursue its cloud gaming innovation, Google Stadia, following disappointing early uptake by premium videogamers, the segment of the market that Google had targeted. Google had invested substantial resources and time... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Product Development; Leadership; Segmentation; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Video Game Industry

February 2018
Teaching Plan

Tesla in 2015

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Olivia Hull and Sarah Mehta

Teaching Note for HBS No. 817-081. View Details

05 Dec 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, December 5, 2017

exit. A new and central economic force is the selection between high- and low-type firms, which differ in terms of their innovative capacity. We estimate the parameters of the model using U.S. Census microdata on firm-level output,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2010
Case

School of One: Reimagining How Students Learn

By: Stacey M. Childress, James Weber and Matthew Adams Haldeman

School of One was a start-up with a new approach to learning. Instead of one teacher delivering the entire math curriculum to a class of 20-25 students, School of One utilized a technology platform that allowed several teachers to collectively oversee the learning of a... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Learning; Innovation and Invention

November 2003
Case

Procter & Gamble 2000 (B)

By: William A. Sahlman and Ryland Matthew Willis

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Innovation and Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Mergers and Acquisitions; Product Launch; Corporate Finance; Retail Industry

02 Apr 2014
What Do You Think?

Has the Post-Capitalist Economy Finally Arrived?

when he said that George Gilder correctly defines knowledge and entrepreneurship as the true driving forces of capitalism. "Airbnb and like companies are accelerating capitalism, not replacing it." As Hugh Quick put it,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Service

September 2001 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Priceline.com v. Microsoft (A)

Describes Priceline's patent of its "reverse auction" pricing mechanism, its discussions with Microsoft regarding Microsoft's license of the patent for its Expedia service, Microsoft's subsequent use of the technology without a license, and Priceline's decision whether... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Patents; Rights; Business or Company Management; Strategy; Software; Information Technology Industry

22 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 22

Justifying and Rationalizing Questionable Preferences Authors:Zoë Chance and Michael I. Norton An abstract is unavailable at this time. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-018.pdf The Financing of R&D and Innovation... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2016 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Rumie: Bringing Digital Education to the Underserved

By: John J-H Kim and Amram Migdal

In fall of 2015, the Toronto, Canada–based education technology nonprofit Rumie had distributed thousands of computer tablets preloaded with collections of thousands of pieces of curated educational content to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in some of the most... View Details

Keywords: Edtech; Education Technology; Social Enterprise; Nonprofit; Education Startup; Technological Innovation; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Entrepreneurship; Education; Business Startups; Education Industry; Canada; Africa

September 2007 (Revised May 2009)
Case

Syndexa and Technology Transfer at Harvard University

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and David Kiron

Gokhan Hotamisligil is a star researcher at Harvard School of Public Health who has made groundbreaking discoveries linking fat cells, inflammation, and diabetes. He now wants to form a company to commercialize these discoveries. At the same time, Isaac Kohlberg, the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Higher Education; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Intellectual Property; Rights; Agreements and Arrangements; Science-Based Business; Commercialization; Biotechnology Industry; Health Industry

November 2016 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Hyperloop One

By: William A. Sahlman, Ramana Nanda, Robert White, Allison Ciechanover and Jeff Huizinga

This case explores the attempt of Shervin Pishevar, a prominent Silicon Valley investor, to shepherd hyperloop, a futuristic pod-in-tube transportation technology, from concept to transformative reality via Hyperloop One and Sherpa Capital, both companies he... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Startup; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Finance; Transportation; Product Development; Innovation and Invention; Transportation Industry

06 Nov 2012
First Look

First Look: November 6

Publications The Architecture of Innovation: The Economics of Creative Organizations Author: Josh Lerner Publication: Harvard Business Press Books, 2012 Abstract Innovation is a much-used buzzword these days, but when it comes to creating... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 1997 (Revised June 1997)
Case

Corporate New Ventures at Procter & Gamble

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Dean Whitney

Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble is faced with an urgent need to revitalize new-product innovation, given its recent focus on incremental product improvements and its aggressive growth goals. As part of this effort, the company's top executives form a small,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Creativity; Working Conditions; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Groups and Teams; Retail Industry; Ohio

February 2025
Case

Doing Business in Casablanca, Morocco

By: Karen G. Mills, Ahmed Dahawy and Choetsow Tenzin

This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Morocco. The case explores the various historical, cultural, and social factors that impact the business environment. It also highlights Morocco’s unique economy where cash remains a dominant... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Cultural Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Business History; Business and Government Relations; Technological Innovation; Cash; Culture; Distribution Industry; Financial Services Industry; Morocco