Publications

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25 Mar 2014
News

GrabTaxi Makes a Go of It

Keywords: mobile taxi app; Thailand; entrepreneurship; women entrepreneurs; Personal Services; Transportation

06 Dec 2021
News

Turning Point: Makeover

Vicky Tsai (MBA 2006) (Illustration by Gisela Goppel) Vicky Tsai (MBA 2006) (Illustration by Gisela Goppel) My first job was as a derivatives trader. The markets fascinated me; the testosterone-driven culture of the trading floor did not.... View Details

Keywords: entrepreneurship; leadership; purpose; Asian American; beauty industry; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Manufacturing

01 Dec 2022
News

Flying High

idea that there is an enormous opportunity to make air travel better.” The startup saw space in the market between premium commercial airline options that were increasingly inconvenient and the ever-more expensive choice of private air... View Details

Keywords: April White; aviation; airlines; entrepreneurship; leadership; innovation; Air Transportation; Transportation

October 2024
Article

Sampling Bias in Entrepreneurial Experiments

By: Ruiqing Cao, Rembrand Koning and Ramana Nanda

Using data from a prominent online platform for launching new digital products, we document that ‘sampling bias’—defined as the difference between a startup’s target customer base and the actual sample on which early ‘beta tests’ are conducted—has a systematic and... View Details

Keywords: Target Market; Sampling Biases; Beta Testing; Product Launch; Entrepreneurship; Gender

June 2013
Supplement

Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling (Video Supplement)

By: Jim Sharpe

This is the Video Supplement for Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling (HBS Case #808087). View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Consumer Products; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Innovation; General Managers; Growth; Growth Management; International; Consumer Behavior; Marketing Channels; Founding; Channels Of Distribution; Entrepreneurship; Marketing; Leadership; Bicycle Industry; United States

2023
Working Paper

Where Strategy Matters: Evidence from a Global Startup Field Study

By: Nataliya Langburd Wright

The role of strategy for innovative startups is theoretically ambiguous and much debated among practitioners. I interviewed executives of 253 scaling software ventures from 34 countries and scored the alignment of their market and organizational choices to detect... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship And Strategy; Scaling Technology Ventures; Global Contextual Intelligence; Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy

SSRN

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March 2014
Case

Jurlique: Globalizing Beauty from Nature and Science

By: Geoffrey Jones and Andrew Spadafora

Considers the marketing and strategic challenges faced by natural beauty brands using the case of Australian-based Jurlique, which was acquired by Pola of Japan in 2011. The case opens two years later in July 2013 when Sam McKay, the chief executive officer, on a visit... View Details

Keywords: Australia; China; Environmental Strategies; Green Business; Marketing; Entrepreneurship; Globalization; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; China; Australia; United States

September 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Case

Qatar: Energy for Development

By: Aldo Musacchio, Colin Donovan, Samir Mikati, Rami Sarafa and Abdulla AlMisnad

Despite being the richest country in the world on a per capita basis, for analysts Qatar belongs in the group of emerging markets considered "frontier markets." This case analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the development strategy of this small country as set... View Details

Keywords: Frontier Markets; State-owned Enterprises; State Capitalism; Sovereign Wealth Funds; Economic Development; Sovereign Finance; State Ownership; Development Economics; Energy Industry; Middle East; Qatar

June 2013
Supplement

Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling (Spreadsheet Supplement)

By: Jim Sharpe

This is the Spreadsheet Supplement for Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling (Case #808087). Includes Exhibit 3, Exhibit 5, Exhibit 6, and Exhibit 8. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Consumer Products; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Innovation; General Managers; Growth; Growth Management; International; Consumer Behavior; Marketing Channels; Founding; Channels Of Distribution; Bicycles; Entrepreneurship; Marketing; Leadership; Bicycle Industry; United States

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

25 Aug 2022
News

Hair Today

product for independent stylists to manage orders, payments, and shipments, and will soon introduce a microloan product. With a Series A fundraise to come, Winters hopes to increase Upgrade’s market share, offering more and more women... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; entrepreneurship; hair; beauty; Houston; Super Bowl

April 2017
Teaching Note

DoubleDutch

By: Frank Cespedes

This Teaching Note accompanies HBS No. 815-044 “DoubleDutch” in which the co-founders of the event management start-up, DoubleDutch, have to make a significant decision about their young company's sales function. The teaching note covers: Opportunity analysis,... View Details

Keywords: Sales Management; Selling; Marketing Management; Strategy Implementation; Business Marketing; Salesforce Management; Marketing; Sales; Marketing Strategy; Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Technology Industry; United States; Europe; Asia

March 2015 (Revised December 2016)
Case

American Well: The DTC Decision

By: Elie Ofek and Natalie Kindred

In late 2013, telehealth company American Well, which developed a digital platform that allowed patients to conduct online medical consultations with physicians, is considering pursuing a direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategy. Founded in 2006, American Well had, to date,... View Details

October 2015 (Revised November 2024)
Case

A Challenger's Strategy: Pinar Abay at ING Bank Turkey

By: Paul Healy, Gautam Mukunda and Esel Çekin

In 2013, Pinar Abay was appointed as the CEO of ING Bank Turkey. At 34, she was the youngest bank CEO in Turkey's history. Her appointment raised eyebrows because of her youth and because her career at McKinsey had given her no day-to-day bank management experience.... View Details

March 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Gary Hirshberg and Stonyfield Farm

By: Nancy F. Koehn, Nora N. Khan and Elizabeth W. Legris

Gary Hirshberg and Stonyfield Farm is the story of one entrepreneur's vision and journey to create a market-leading, environmentally responsible business founded on the principles of product quality, organizational alignment, and sustainability. A former environmental... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Values; Development Stage Enterprises; Innovation; Management By Objective; Experimentation; Emerging Technologies; Mission and Purpose; Management Style; Values and Beliefs; Social Issues; Organizational Culture; Environmental Sustainability; Business Growth and Maturation; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention; Food and Beverage Industry; New Hampshire

November 2013
Teaching Note

Porto Adriatico

By: Arthur I Segel

Teaching Note to the Porto Adriatico Case, HBS No. 213-024 View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Developing Markets; Emerging Markets; Finance; Real Estate Industry

July 2013 (Revised August 2017)
Case

TaKaDu

By: Elie Ofek and Matthew Preble

In December 2012, Amir Peleg, founder and CEO of TaKaDu, reflected on how to position his young firm for the next fiscal year and beyond. The small Israeli startup had developed an innovative software system that used patented algorithms and statistical analysis to... View Details