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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(1,788)
- People (4)
- News (521)
- Research (907)
- Events (4)
- Multimedia (12)
- Faculty Publications (728)
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- May 2017 (Revised June 2017)
- Case
ATH Technologies (A): Making the Numbers
By: Robert Simons and Jennifer Packard
An exercise that takes students through five stages of growth in an entrepreneurial start-up in the medical devices industry: 1) founding, 2) growth, 3) push to profitability, 4) refocusing process, and 5) takeover by new management. At each stage, students must... View Details
Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Balancing Innovation And Control; Performance Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Profit; Geographic Location; Governance Controls; Innovation and Invention; Management Succession; Performance Evaluation; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry
Simons, Robert, and Jennifer Packard. "ATH Technologies (A): Making the Numbers." Harvard Business School Case 117-013, May 2017. (Revised June 2017.)
- March 2005 (Revised April 2007)
- Case
Comergent Technologies Inc.: Enterprise E-Commerce
By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell
Coming out of the 2001 high-tech industry recession, this venture capital start-up has to come up with a marketing plan to break even and grow. Its innovative e-commerce software provides unique customer relationship management solutions, but it has to convince... View Details
Keywords: Business Startups; Customer Relationship Management; Financial Crisis; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Software; Information Technology Industry
Rangan, V. Kasturi, and Marie Bell. "Comergent Technologies Inc.: Enterprise E-Commerce." Harvard Business School Case 505-016, March 2005. (Revised April 2007.)
- November 2015
- Case
Rubicon Global
By: William A. Sahlman and Hunter Ashmore
The case describes Rubicon Global, a startup that aimed to disrupt the waste management industry. The company started with a bold idea: create a cloud-based, full-service waste management company providing low-cost, highly efficient, and environmentally friendly... View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Rubicon; Rubicon Global; Waste Management; Startups; Disruptive Technology; Technological Innovation; Disruptive Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Entrepreneurship; Wastes and Waste Processing; Business Startups; Corporate Finance; Service Industry
Sahlman, William A., and Hunter Ashmore. "Rubicon Global." Harvard Business School Case 816-015, November 2015.
- December 2003
- Teaching Note
Collabrys, Inc. (A)-The Evolution of a Startup (TN)
Teaching Note for (9-603-064). View Details
- September 2007 (Revised May 2009)
- Case
Syndexa and Technology Transfer at Harvard University
By: Richard G. Hamermesh and David Kiron
Gokhan Hotamisligil is a star researcher at Harvard School of Public Health who has made groundbreaking discoveries linking fat cells, inflammation, and diabetes. He now wants to form a company to commercialize these discoveries. At the same time, Isaac Kohlberg, the... View Details
Keywords: Business Startups; Higher Education; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Intellectual Property; Rights; Agreements and Arrangements; Science-Based Business; Commercialization; Biotechnology Industry; Health Industry
Hamermesh, Richard G., and David Kiron. "Syndexa and Technology Transfer at Harvard University." Harvard Business School Case 808-073, September 2007. (Revised May 2009.)
- March 2016
- Case
N12 Technologies: Building an Organization and Building a Business
By: David A. Garvin and Aldo Sesia
N12 Technologies was a startup founded in 2010 that employed nanotechnology to manufacture a patented material to improve the performance of carbon fiber composites, which were used in a wide variety of products, ranging from bicycles to automobiles to aircraft parts.... View Details
Keywords: Startup; Organizational Structure; Nanotechnology; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Management Systems; Commercialization; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Bicycle Industry; Transportation Industry; United States
Garvin, David A., and Aldo Sesia. "N12 Technologies: Building an Organization and Building a Business." Harvard Business School Case 316-002, March 2016.
- March 2016 (Revised February 2017)
- Case
Hello Alfred: Come Home Happy
By: Joseph B. Fuller and Carin-Isabel Knoop
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: On-demand Economy; Sharing Economy; Technology Startup; Technology; Growth Strategy; Business Startups; Business Growth and Maturation; Entrepreneurship; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Strategic Planning; Service Industry; United States; Boston; Cambridge; New York (city, NY); California
Fuller, Joseph B., and Carin-Isabel Knoop. "Hello Alfred: Come Home Happy." Harvard Business School Case 316-154, March 2016. (Revised February 2017.)
- August 2019 (Revised March 2023)
- Case
Rand Fishkin at Moz (A)
In 2016, senior management at Moz, a venture capital–backed startup providing software tools for digital marketing professionals, must decide how to address a looming cash flow crisis precipitated by failed efforts to broaden its product line. Seattle-based Moz had... View Details
Keywords: Startups; Scaling; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Business Startups; Diversification; Growth Management; Technology Industry
Eisenmann, Thomas R. "Rand Fishkin at Moz (A)." Harvard Business School Case 820-002, August 2019. (Revised March 2023.)
- 2024
- Working Paper
Catalysts for Climate Solutions: Corporate Responses to Venture Capital Financing of Climate-tech Startups
By: Shirley Lu, George Serafeim and Simon Xu
We study whether incumbent firms increase their product focus on climate solutions in response to venture capital (VC) financing of climate-tech startups. Using large language models to measure a firm's focus on climate solutions, we find that incumbents in similar... View Details
Keywords: Climate Finance; Climate Change; Technological Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Environmental Sustainability; Business Startups
Lu, Shirley, George Serafeim, and Simon Xu. "Catalysts for Climate Solutions: Corporate Responses to Venture Capital Financing of Climate-tech Startups." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 25-025, November 2024.
- January 2016 (Revised January 2017)
- Case
Rumie: Bringing Digital Education to the Underserved
By: John J-H Kim and Amram Migdal
In fall of 2015, the Toronto, Canada–based education technology nonprofit Rumie had distributed thousands of computer tablets preloaded with collections of thousands of pieces of curated educational content to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in some of the most... View Details
Keywords: Edtech; Education Technology; Social Enterprise; Nonprofit; Education Startup; Technological Innovation; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Entrepreneurship; Education; Business Startups; Education Industry; Canada; Africa
Kim, John J-H, and Amram Migdal. "Rumie: Bringing Digital Education to the Underserved." Harvard Business School Case 316-140, January 2016. (Revised January 2017.)
- May 1997 (Revised July 1997)
- Case
Vermeer Technologies (B): Realizing the Dream
By: Ashish Nanda
The Vermeer team works day and night to develop its software offering, unforeseen difficulties and internal tensions notwithstanding. In less than a year, the product is ready. The Vermeer team waits anxiously for the market to pronounce its verdict. View Details
Keywords: Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Product Development; Information Technology Industry
Nanda, Ashish, and Georgia Levenson. "Vermeer Technologies (B): Realizing the Dream." Harvard Business School Case 397-080, May 1997. (Revised July 1997.)
- October 2018
- Case
BreezoMeter: Making Air Pollution Data Actionable
By: Frank V. Cespedes, Allison M. Ciechanover and Margot Eiran
The case focuses on an Israeli startup that provides actionable air pollution data and forecasts. The company has over 50 enterprise customers and its tool reached a million people daily in 67 countries. The co-founders wrestle with which markets and customers to focus... View Details
Keywords: Startups; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Pollutants; Analytics and Data Science; Sales; Marketing; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technology Industry; Israel; United States
Cespedes, Frank V., Allison M. Ciechanover, and Margot Eiran. "BreezoMeter: Making Air Pollution Data Actionable." Harvard Business School Case 819-058, October 2018.
- May 1997 (Revised July 1997)
- Case
Vermeer Technologies (C): Negotiating the Future
By: Ashish Nanda
The success of the Vermeer software offering suddenly transforms the start-up into a sought after company. After arduous negotiations, Vermeer management is faced with the choice of continuing as an independent company or being acquired by Microsoft or Netscape. View Details
Keywords: Negotiation; Applications and Software; Decision Making; Acquisition; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry
Nanda, Ashish, and Georgia Levenson. "Vermeer Technologies (C): Negotiating the Future." Harvard Business School Case 397-081, May 1997. (Revised July 1997.)
- December 1998
- Supplement
Vermeer Technologies (A): A Company Is Born
By: Ashish Nanda
The founding team of Vermeer Technologies, an entrepreneurial software start-up, discusses the opportunities and challenges confronting the company. View Details
Keywords: Applications and Software; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry
Nanda, Ashish. "Vermeer Technologies (A): A Company Is Born." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 899-505, December 1998.
- 2018
- Article
Prior Ties and the Limits of Peer Effects on Startup Team Performance
By: Sharique Hasan and Rembrand Koning
We conduct a field experiment at an entrepreneurship bootcamp to investigate whether interaction with proximate peers shapes a nascent startup team's performance. We find that teams whose members lack prior ties to others at the bootcamp experience peer effects that... View Details
Keywords: Field Experiment; Peer Effects; Office Space; Knowledge Spillovers; Accelerators; Entrepreneurship; Knowledge Sharing; Performance; Technology Industry; India
Hasan, Sharique, and Rembrand Koning. "Prior Ties and the Limits of Peer Effects on Startup Team Performance." Strategic Management Journal 40, no. 9 (September 2019): 1394–1416.
- 2025
- Book
The Experimentation Machine: Finding Product–Market Fit in the Age of AI
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
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
Bussgang, Jeffrey J. The Experimentation Machine: Finding Product–Market Fit in the Age of AI. Damn Gravity Media, 2025.
- March 2006 (Revised March 2014)
- Teaching Note
Founder-CEO Succession at Wily Technology (TN)
By: Noam Wasserman
Teaching Note to 805150. View Details
- 03 May 2024
- Research & Ideas
How Much Does Proximity Influence Startup Innovation? 20 Meters' Worth to Be Exact
neighbor’s technology by 3 percentage points. Beyond 20 meters, the influence of proximity declines quickly. The study found that doubling the distance between two firms reduced the probability of technology... View Details
Keywords: by Ben Rand
- August 2015
- Case
Yesware (A)
By: Shikhar Ghosh, Christopher Payton and Ali Huberlie
Matthew Bellows founded Yesware, a Boston-based tech startup, to solve a problem that he'd encountered as a sales manager: sales people hate entering data, rarely do it accurately, and almost always input data that can't be synthesized in a way that is useful for the... View Details
Keywords: Firing; Culture Change; Startup; Technology; Hiring; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation; Sales; Human Resources; Technology Industry; Boston
Ghosh, Shikhar, Christopher Payton, and Ali Huberlie. "Yesware (A)." Harvard Business School Case 816-039, August 2015.
- June 2016
- Teaching Note
N12 Technologies: Building an Organization and Building a Business
By: David A. Garvin
N12 Technologies was a startup founded in 2010 that employed nanotechnology to manufacture a patented material to improve the performance of carbon fiber composites, which were used in a wide variety of products, ranging from bicycles to automobiles to aircraft parts.... View Details
Keywords: Startup; Organizational Structure; Nanotechnology; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Management Systems; Commercialization; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Bicycle Industry; Transportation Industry; United States