Publications
Publications
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(3,290)
- Faculty Publications (930)
- November 2004 (Revised May 2010)
- Case
RightNow Technologies
By: William A. Sahlman and Dan Heath
The founder and CEO of a CRM software start-up must decide between an attractive acquisition offer and the opportunity to go public. Discusses the growth of the company--including a lengthy discussion of entrepreneurial bootstrapping--as well as an aborted IPO attempt... View Details
- October 2004 (Revised February 2005)
- Case
John Moran and the Orthopedics Industry
Reviews John Moran's 25-year career in the orthopedic industry and his current decision whether to start a hand and foot surgery company. View Details
- October 2004 (Revised March 2005)
- Case
Langer Lab, The: Commercializing Science
By: H. Kent Bowen, Alex Kazaks, Ayr Muir-Harmony and Bryce LaPierre
Professor Robert Langer's laboratory at MIT is the source of an unusually large number of published papers, patents, and technology licenses to start-up and established companies in the biomedical industry. Explores Langer's leadership and other factors that create a... View Details
- September 2004 (Revised June 2005)
- Case
QUALCOMM, Inc. 2004
By: David B. Yoffie, Pai-Ling Yin and Elizabeth Kind
QUALCOMM, Inc. had transitioned from a fledgling startup into a Fortune 500 wireless technology leader. Its CDMA technology was considered the preeminent technology and was the world's fastest growing wireless communications technology. CEO Irwin Jacobs had a number of... View Details
- September 2004
- Case
Valhalla Partners Due Diligence
By: William A. Sahlman and Dan Heath
The Valhalla Partners venture capitial firm introduced a new approach to the due-diligence process. An internal due-diligence report analyzes Telco Exchange, a startup company in the IT software space. An extended excerpt examines the trade-offs involved in the new... View Details
- June 2004 (Revised November 2005)
- Case
PalmSource, Inc.
By: David B. Yoffie, Pai-Ling Yin and Christina L. Darwall
PalmSource CEO David Nagel had grand ambitions. In this newly spun-off company, he wanted to create the next leading software platform for hand-held devices. Explores the strategic challenges of building a platform business. View Details
- June 2004 (Revised November 2004)
- Case
Birth of the Swatch, The
By: Youngme E. Moon
In 1993, the Swatch is the best-selling watch in history. Traces the history of the watch industry up to the early 1980s, when the Swatch was introduced. Describes the various elements that made the Swatch different from any watch the industry had ever seen. Also... View Details
- May 2004 (Revised October 2004)
- Case
Globe Telecom
By: Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu and Ingrid Vargas
The Ayala Group, one of the oldest and largest Filipino business groups, partnered with Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) to launch a telecom venture following industry deregulation in the Philippines. The partners must decide whether to continue the venture in... View Details
- May 2004
- Supplement
Slingshot Technology, Inc. Supplement: Partnership Agreements
By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins
Slingshot Technology Inc. (STI) is a privately held software start-up founded in 1995 focused on identifying emerging spaces in the IT services industry and partnering with vendors selling promising but unproven technologies in those spaces. The vendors used STI to... View Details
- May 2004 (Revised December 2004)
- Case
Slingshot Technology, Inc. (A)
By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins
Slingshot Technology Inc. (STI) is a privately held software start-up founded in 1995 focused on identifying emerging spaces in the IT services industry and partnering with vendors selling promising but unproven technologies in those spaces. The vendors used STI to... View Details
- May 2004 (Revised December 2004)
- Case
Slingshot Technology, Inc. (B)
By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins
Slingshot Technology Inc. (STI) is a privately held software start-up founded in 1995 focused on identifying emerging spaces in the IT services industry and partnering with vendors selling promising but unproven technologies in those spaces. The vendors used STI to... View Details
- May 2004 (Revised December 2004)
- Case
Slingshot Technology, Inc. (C)
By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins
Supplements the (A) case. View Details
- April 2004
- Case
D-Wave Systems: Building a Quantum Computer
By: Alan D. MacCormack, Ajay Agrawal and Rebecca Henderson
D-Wave Systems is a start-up seeking to commercialize a quantum computer. Its business model is unique: as of 2003, it had very few technical resources within the firm. Instead, it financed a series of projects undertaken at universities and government labs. In return... View Details
- April 2004 (Revised May 2006)
- Background Note
Achieving Profitable Growth and Market Value
By: James L. Heskett and Richard G. Hamermesh
Provides an overview of how a new venture needs to change as it passes from the initial start-up to the growth phase. Explores how a venture's leadership, strategy, and execution need to evolve to deal with rapid growth. View Details
- February 2004 (Revised April 2004)
- Case
Orchid Partners: A Venture Capital Start-up
By: Myra M. Hart and Kristin Lieb
The development of a new venture partnership and the challenges associated with raising its first fund are chronicled. The decision to focus on early-stage investments, the determination of the appropriate size of the fund, the fund-raising process, and the steps in... View Details
- 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
- December 2003 (Revised September 2004)
- Case
Managing Segway's Early Development
By: Richard G. Hamermesh and David Kiron
Describes the early development of the Segway Human Transporter and focuses on the organizational issues that arise between the parent company and the new company that is being spun out to produce and market the Segway. Key issues are the distribution of bonuses and... View Details
- November 2003 (Revised January 2004)
- Case
XS, Inc.
By: Ray A. Goldberg and Joan McRobbie
XS, Inc. created a seller and buyer Internet for the $200 billion farm supply industry. How can this start-up remain the nonpartisan hub of this network, and how will it aid in the traceability of the U.S. food system? View Details
- November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
- Case
Marv Tseu at Active Reasoning
By: William A. Sahlman and Christina Darwall
Describes a set of decisions confronting the management team of an early-stage software company. The company has made considerable progress in developing its software but will need additional capital to move forward. Unfortunately, conditions in the capital market are... View Details
- October 2003 (Revised March 2008)
- Case
Salick Cardiovascular Centers: Business Plan
By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Kaushik Sen, Alex Tkachenko and Carolyn Wolff
A seasoned health services entrepreneur develops a business plan for a cardiovascular-focused factory. Will it work? View Details