Publications

25 Jul 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas: July 25, 2017

performance goals. Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/117012-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 117-013 ATH Technologies (A): Making the Numbers No abstract available. Purchase this case:... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

April 2025
Case

Breezm: Innovative 3D-Printed Eyewear (A)

By: Juan Alcácer, Brian Mao Fu and Adina Wong

In 2023, Breezm, a South Korean startup, faced a strategic decision about how to grow its innovative 3D-printed, custom-fit eyewear business. Co-founded in 2017 by Zenma Park and Wooseok Sung, Breezm combined facial scanning, AI, and in-house production to solve the... View Details

Keywords: 3D Printing; Eyeyewear; Growth; Business Startups; AI and Machine Learning; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk and Uncertainty; Expansion; South Korea

January 2011
Case

Aardvark

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Alison Berkley Wagonfeld and Lauren Barley

Aardvark is an online social search service that allows users to pose questions and receive answers from other users in their extended social network. The case explores the process that Aardvark's founders used to design and develop their product based on intensive... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Entrepreneurship; Product Design; Product Development; Social and Collaborative Networks; Internet and the Web

08 Jan 2014
What Do You Think?

Do Productivity Increases Contribute to Social Inequality?

while creating new jobs more or less commensurate with the skills of the displaced workers. But things have changed since the technology is now able to think as well as perform tasks It is not easy to convert today's manual laborers to... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

January 2017
Supplement

Hello Alfred: Come Home Happy — Operating the Business Model Exercise

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Christopher Payton

On a mission to "automate the on-demand economy," Harvard Business School classmates Marcela Sapone and Jessica Beck launched Hello Alfred in 2013 to provide subscribers with an "Alfred" to complete various chores for a monthly fee. In early 2016, the company has built... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Service Operations; Service Industry; New York (city, NY); Boston

25 Oct 2016
First Look

October 25, 2016

can be used to evaluate the implications of marketing actions, consumer heterogeneity, competition, successive technology generations, and globalization. The exposition is filled with vivid examples from a wide array of domains (video... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Fantuan

By: Feng Zhu and David Lane

In 2023, CEO Randy Wu was considering the optimal growth strategy for Fantuan, a restaurant food delivery platform that had expanded from its 2014 founding in Vancouver, Canada to serve the Chinese demand for Asian cuisine in urban markets across Australia, Canada, the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Customer Focus and Relationships; Diasporas; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Growth Management; Business Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Canada; United Kingdom; Australia

26 Jul 2016
First Look

July 26, 2016

excellence with high-volume experts. Finally, we need better health information technology systems to facilitate knowledge transmission and communication. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51385 forthcoming... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 Dec 2014
First Look

First Look: December 9

as a major threat for startups and small companies; big companies have more financial resources and greater scale, market power, and brand awareness than small ones. However, our research finds that a smaller brand can actually benefit if... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Mar 2016
First Look

March 8, 2016

approaches can be reconciled through the Lean Strategy process, which ensures that startups innovate in a disciplined fashion and make the most of their limited resources by knowing "what not to do." Deliberate strategy sets the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2011
Teaching Note

Curt Schilling's Next Pitch (TN)

By: Noam Wasserman

Teaching Note for 810053. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Problems and Challenges; Selection and Staffing; Groups and Teams; Leadership Style; Business Startups; Internet and the Web; Financing and Loans; Games, Gaming, and Gambling

February 2001 (Revised June 2001)
Case

eSurg (A): Negotiating the Start-Up

By: Jay O. Light and Anthony Massaro

The founders of an online medical supplies firm must negotiate with an established hospital distributor and a venture capital firm. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Negotiation; Internet and the Web; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

June 2018 (Revised April 2021)
Supplement

Valuing Snap After the IPO Quiet Period

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Marco Di Maggio and Greg Saldutte

June 2018
Supplement

Valuing Snap After the IPO Quiet Period (B)

By: Marco Di Maggio and Benjamin C. Esty

Analyzes Snap’s value and analyst recommendations following the events described in the (A) case. View Details

09 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 9, 2015

a lower price. In late 2012, Quincy's cofounders are debating how to approach a crucial board meeting. Their seed-stage startup is running low on cash; to survive, they will need more capital, probably in the form of a bridge loan from... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Jan 2013
First Look

First Look: January 15

may explain different ways of organizing across organizations. This study contributes to understanding social entrepreneurship as a field of practice and it describes avenues for theorizing about the different organizational approaches adopted by social entrepreneurs.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2003 (Revised May 2003)
Case

VendQuest (A): The Business Idea

By: Dwight B. Crane and David Foster

A potential founder of a company is considering whether to start up a new enterprise that would link parts distributors with customers in the construction industries via the Internet. This case describes the industry and the potential advantages to distributors and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Corporate Strategy; Business Model; Distribution; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Business Plan; Customer Relationship Management; Business Ventures; Construction Industry

Find at Harvard

February 2021
Teaching Plan

Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Amy Klopfenstein

This teaching plan serves as a supplement to the case “Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?” HBS 820-098. The case explores the tension between two different financing and expansion plans for a startup, and explores issues related to business model pivots and industry... View Details