Publications

21 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 21

2009, the cofounders of Rent the Runway (RTR), a website that rented designer dresses, are debating whether to grow their startup at a measured pace and focus on improving operational effectiveness or raise a new round of venture capital... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Entrepreneurial Management Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

Entrepreneurship category for “Dropbox: ‘It Just Works’” with Michael Pao and Lauren Barley (HBS Case 811-065). Scott Duke Kominers : Won a 2015 Case Centre Award in the Knowledge, Information and Communication Systems Management Category for “Online View Details

February 2021 (Revised March 2022)
Case

TikTok in 2020: Super App or Supernova?

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Dan Maher and Dan O'Brien

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was launched in 2012 around a simple idea – helping users entertain themselves on their smartphones while on the Beijing Subway. In less than a decade, it had become one of the world’s most valuable private companies, with investors... View Details

Web

Commercialization of the Polarizer - Edwin H. Land & Polaroid | Harvard Business School

entrepreneur also realized that the success of his company depended on the continuation of its research efforts on a variety of fronts. Patent protection enabled the Polaroid Corporation to successfully protect and market its products as... View Details

May 2006
Case

A123Systems

By: H. Kent Bowen, Kenneth P Morse and Douglass Cannon

A 123Systems was a young company that was founded on basic materials science research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A co-founder of the company, Yet-Ming Chiang, was a full professor at MIT and served as scientific adviser. Intellectual property based... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property; Business Startups; Research and Development; Commercialization; Technological Innovation; Science-Based Business; Product Development; Battery Industry; Electronics Industry; Massachusetts

22 Feb 2022
News

New Urban Order

greatest risk from the disastrous effects of sea-level rise. Yet cities also have the ability to act without waiting for state and federal action, adds Raphael Carty (MBA 1983), former CEO of Callida Energy, a software startup focused on... View Details

Keywords: Kathleen Fu, Deborah Blagg, Julia Hanna, and Maureen Harmon; illustrations by; energy; environment; sustainability; entrepreneurship; Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation; Transportation; Water, Sewage and Supply Systems; Utilities; Construction of Buildings; Construction; Waste Management and Remediation Services; Corporate Services

22 Feb 2022
News

Breaking News

that is just market analysis: Where are the places that are growing or shrinking? What’s the business health of each community? What’s the social capital across different communities? Where is (and isn’t) there philanthropy? On top of... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; illustration by Dana Smith; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

05 May 2009
First Look

First Look: May 5, 2009

Survive—Thrive: Leading Innovation in Good Times and Bad Authors:Lynda M. Applegate and Bruce Harreld Abstract Battered by contracting markets and frozen credit, many businesses today are fighting for survival. Indeed, the current global... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2013
Dissertation

Designing Freemium: A Model of Consumer Usage, Upgrade, and Referral Dynamics

By: Clarence Lee, Vineet Kumar and Sunil Gupta

Abstract. Over the past decade "freemium" (free + premium) has become the dominant business model among internet start-ups for its ability to acquire and monetize a large install-base with limited marketing resources. Freemium is a hybrid strategy where a firm offers... View Details

Keywords: Discrete-Continuous Choice Dynamic Structural Models; Bayesian Estimation; Word-of-Mouth; Digital Services; Freemium; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Motivation and Incentives; Marketing Strategy; Internet and the Web; Consumer Behavior; Marketing Reference Programs; Business Startups

09 Apr 2013
First Look

First Look: April 9

http://hbr.org/search/113088-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 813-125 Plastiq The young CEO of a venture-backed startup needs to figure out his go to market strategy and the right profile for his first... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 May 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas and Research: May 23, 2017

Corporate Debt in Emerging Markets By: Alfaro, Laura, Gonzalo Asis, Anusha Chari, and Ugo Panizza Abstract—This paper documents a set of stylized facts about leverage and financial fragility in the nonfinancial corporate sector in... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

25 Aug 2022
News

Up on the Corner

to name the building Madikizela, in honor of the late South African political activist Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, a symbol of Black female resilience.) The upper floors will contain well-appointed rentals, whose target market includes... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; photographed by Melissa Golden; Real Estate

February 2014 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Strava

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman and Sid Misra

Strava is a new fast-growing social network for the avid cyclist and runner. The Strava case traces the entrepreneurial journey of two serial entrepreneurs who have been co-founders in a prior venture, and who have co-founded Strava 3 years ago. The protagonists must... View Details

03 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 3

modules in conjunction with the firm's organizational boundaries and property rights. Download working paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2512209 Markets with Price Coherence By: Edelman, Benjamin, and Julian Wright Abstract—In View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2013
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Laurent Adamowicz and Bon'App

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Juliane Calingo Schwetz and Patricia Bissett Higgins

After a successful career as Chairman and CEO of Paris-based luxury food company, Fauchon, Laurent Adamowicz, sought to reduce obesity and improve health outcomes. Adamowicz created a mobile application to provide consumers with more accessible and interpretable... View Details

Keywords: Nutritional Information; Obesity; Weight Loss; App Development; Business Startups; Nutrition; Health; Information; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Entrepreneurship; Social Enterprise; Information Technology Industry; Health Industry