Publications

April 2013
Article

Business Model Innovation and Competitive Imitation: The Case of Sponsor-Based Business Models

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Feng Zhu

This paper provides the first formal model of business model innovation. Our analysis focuses on sponsor-based business model innovations where a firm monetizes its product through sponsors rather than setting prices to its customer base. We analyze strategic... View Details

Keywords: Business Model Innovation; Imitation; Sponsor-based Business Model; Strategic Revelation; Strategic Concealment; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Price; Competitive Strategy; Adoption; Value; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Product; Customers; Market Entry and Exit; Monopoly

Find at Harvard

February 2010
Teaching Note

Saffronart.com: Bidding for Success (TN)

By: Mukti Khaire

Teaching Note for [808027]. View Details

Keywords: Auctions; Arts; Innovation and Invention; Internet and the Web; Revenue; Competition; Market Entry and Exit; Risk and Uncertainty; Web Services Industry; Fine Arts Industry; India

08 Sep 2015
First Look

September 8, 2015

financial markets to get through the initial period of discovery or diffusion. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49551 September 2015 Harvard Business Review The Organizational Apology: A Step-by-Step Guide... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

October 2015
Teaching Note

Molycorp: Financing the Production of Rare Earth Minerals (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

Molycorp, the western hemisphere's only producer of rare earth minerals, was in the middle of a $1 billion capital expenditure project in its effort to become a vertically integrated supplier of rare earth minerals, oxides, and metals. Yet it had just reported lower... View Details

01 Aug 2006
First Look

First Look: August 1, 2006

students to debate the company's concept, its strategic decision on how quickly it would like to grow, and some key decisions on its supply chain. At the time of the case (2006), small "mom-and-pop" stores still dominated Indian retailing, but that was... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 29

business model performance when value loops of two industry players interact; to analyze how Amazon expanded its business model and overcame barriers to entry in a platform market that generates... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2025
Book

The Experimentation Machine: Finding Product–Market Fit in the Age of AI

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang

Leverage AI to be a 10x Founder

Today’s most successful founders know that the startups that learn the fastest will win. In The Experimentation Machine, I reveal how AI is transforming the way startups find product-market fit and scale.... View Details

Keywords: AI; Founder; Startup; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Adoption; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Market Entry and Exit

September 2011 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Perella Weinberg Partners: New Firm, Old Values

By: Clayton S. Rose and Aman Malik

In the five years since it opened its doors, the investment banking boutique Perella Weinberg Partners had grown into a firm that advised a roster of blue-chip clients on critical transactions and had over $8 billion of client assets under management. The three... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Investment Banking; Growth and Development; Compensation and Benefits; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Going Public; Banking Industry

July 2009 (Revised March 2010)
Case

Sotheby's & Christie's Inc.

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Catherine Jane Wise

The fine art auction business has remained a duopoly over its 250 year history. The industry is dominated by Sotheby's and Christie's Inc. Curiously, neither competitor has been able to overtake the other by a notable margin despite the clear network effects of this... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Business Model; Restructuring; Economics; Auctions; Market Entry and Exit; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Operations; Competition

01 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 1

approved in the United States only since 2015. Europe, however, has had biosimilar entry since 2006; we consider how competition from biosimilars might impact the U.S. biosimilar market by examining data... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Dec 2017
First Look

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

identified in the education and skill system, labor market incentives and flexibility, the ability to translate R&D outcomes into economic value creation, and in preparing the economy for the new realities of globalization. Maybe most... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Sep 2000
What Do You Think?

Whither the Information Economy?

be justified as the monetization of valuable information assets that accountants have never seen fit to include as legitimate entries on balance sheets (other than as grossly misnamed "goodwill"). But wait a minute. Is there a... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

March 1996 (Revised November 1996)
Case

Supermarkets in Inner Cities

By: James E. Austin and Jaan Elias

Excerpts from five articles that present the challenges and opportunities inherent in opening and operating supermarkets in inner-city neighborhoods. View Details

Keywords: Urban Scope; Market Entry and Exit; Alliances; Business and Government Relations; Problems and Challenges; Development Economics; Business and Community Relations; Business Ventures; Strategic Planning; Cooperation

Find at Harvard

17 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 17

on the relationship between short selling and securities' prices. Purchase this note:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/212079-PDF-ENG Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA)'s Entry into the Retirement Market... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

October 2022
Supplement

The SAH Group: The Time is Right, Spreadsheet Supplement

By: Juan Alcacer and Alpana Thapar

In January 2021, Jalila Mezni, CEO of the SAH Group, was preparing to present the company’s future growth plans to its board of directors. The Tunisian company was a leading producer and distributor of personal care and packaged hygiene products. In 2019, it expanded... View Details

Keywords: Growth Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Investment Decisions; Growth Management; Vertical Integration; Distribution; Competition; Strategy; Supply Chain; Presentations; Market Entry and Exit; Product Positioning; Consumer Products Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Health Industry; Tunisia

Web

Tools | New Venture Competition

Venture: Iterating Based on Market Feedback video Play Video duration: 1:01:01 Testing Your Social Venture: Iterating Based on Market Feedback How do you test and iterate your idea? Social entrepreneurs and... View Details

06 Aug 2024
Op-Ed

What the World Could Learn from America's Immigration Backlash—100 Years Ago

Party in Massachusetts. 1860s and 1870s: Opposition to Chinese immigrants in the US culminated in the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned the entry and the re-entry of Chinese immigrants for more than 70 years. 1910s and 1920s:... View Details

Keywords: by Marco Tabellini

February 1999 (Revised March 2004)
Case

JAFCO America Ventures, Inc.: Building A Venture Capital Firm

By: Walter Kuemmerle, Kiichiro Kobayashi and Chad S Ellis

JAFCO, a large Japanese venture capital firm, is making a second attempt to enter the U.S. venture capital market. The U.S. subsidiary, JAFCO America Ventures, is in the midst of a challenging turnaround. Going forward, the U.S. subsidiary's leadership needs to make a... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Market Entry and Exit; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Japan; United States

2011
Working Paper

Business Model Innovation and Competitive Imitation: The Case of Sponsor-Based Business Models

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Feng Zhu

We study sponsor-based business model innovations where a firm monetizes its product through sponsors rather than setting prices to its customer base. We analyze strategic interactions between an innovative entrant and an incumbent where the incumbent may imitate the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Value