Publications

January 2022
Case

Somatus: Value-Based Kidney Care (A)

By: Ariel D. Stern, Robert S. Huckman and Sarah Mehta

When Dr. Ikenna Okezie founded Somatus, a value-based kidney care provider, his goal had been nothing short of transforming kidney care delivery in the United States. Rather than relying on dialysis, a costly and intensive treatment for late-stage kidney disease, the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Medical Specialties; Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Management; Strategy; Business Strategy; Value; Value Creation; Health Industry; United States; Virginia

December 2012 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Plastiq

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Gaurav Jain, Liroy Haddad, Luke Langford and Matt Noble

The young CEO of a venture-backed startup needs to figure out his go to market strategy and the right profile for his first key sales hires. Should he develop partnerships with channels that would provide leverage or build out a direct sales force? And should the sales... View Details

Keywords: Payments; Sales; Channels; Credit Cards; Digital Platforms; Selection and Staffing; Cost vs Benefits; Salesforce Management; Marketing Channels; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Management Systems

01 Oct 2019
News

Today’s venture capitalists owe something to 19th-century whalers

26 Apr 2011
First Look

First Look: April 26

business manager. Publisher's Link: http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/product/Management-Accounting-Information-for-DecisionMaking-and-Strategy-Execution/9780137024971.page Who Benefits from Religion? Authors:Daniel Mochon, Michael... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2018
Case

Choosy

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Julia Kelley

Founded in 2017, Choosy is a data-driven fashion startup that uses algorithms to identify styles trending on social media. After manufacturing similar items using a China-based supply chain, Choosy sells them to consumers through its website and social media pages.... View Details

Deborah Winshel is a member of the Faculty of the Harvard Business School where she teaches Leadership and Corporate Accountability to first year MBAs and executives.

Most recently, Deborah was a Managing Director and Global Head of Social Impact at... View Details

Alan D. MacCormack

Alan MacCormack is the MBA Class of 1949 Adjunct Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, a member of The Digital, Data, and Design (D^3) Institute at Harvard, and a core faculty member... View Details

Keywords: automotive; communications; computer; e-commerce industry; electronics; high technology; information technology industry; internet; semiconductor; software; telecommunications; venture capital industry

October 2022 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Framebridge (A): Reimagining Custom Framing

By: Rembrand Koning and Alicia Dadlani

In December 2018, Susan Tynan, founder and CEO of Framebridge, a four-year-old venture-backed startup that sold online custom framing, formulated plans for the future. Her vision was to revolutionize the $4 billion industry by making custom framing easy, transparent,... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Business Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Operations; Consumer Products Industry; United States; District of Columbia; Kentucky

01 Aug 2018
News

Inside the Emerging Economy With Millions of High-Paying Jobs

28 Jun 2016
First Look

June 28, 2016

businesses. The strategy literature uses real option theory to explain the transition to scale, but does not consider the complex relationships between corporate ventures and their parent organizations. By comparing six longitudinal cases of large firms’ new View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2020 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Nubank: Democratizing Financial Services

By: Michael Chu, Carla Larangeira and Pedro Levindo

Nubank, a wholly-digital solution created to disrupt Brazilian banking, with 6 million clients and a $4 billion valuation after five years, must decide whether to expand to Mexico. The company was founded in São Paulo in 2013 by Colombian-born David Vélez to seize what... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Financial Inclusion; Digital Banking; Credit Cards; Banks and Banking; Disruption; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; South America; Brazil; North America; Mexico

January 2020
Case

Lunchclub: Algorithmic Networking

By: Scott Duke Kominers and George Gonzalez

Algorithmic networking startup Lunchclub coordinates in-person meetings between professionals who would have been unlikely to meet. The company faces marketplace design, growth, and monetization challenges: The executive team has to refine Lunchclub's marketplace... View Details

Keywords: Monetization Strategy; Networking; Business Startups; Marketplace Matching; Market Design; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Industry

TeachingInterests

Field Course: Social Innovation Lab

This course provides students an opportunity to address a social enterprise topic with the discipline of business tools and techniques. Students will work in teams, choosing among three types of projects: a) developing a business plan for your own social enterprise;... View Details

Pietro Satriano

Pietro Satriano is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School. He sits on the boards of CarMax, the largest omni-channel used car retailer in the U.S. and Metro, a large regional grocery retailer in Canada. Pietro advises a number of food-tech startups and acts... View Details

18 Feb 2021
Blog Post

SIPs in 2021

classroom, we observed four: Anatomy of a Badass, Startup Bootcamp, Climate Finance, and The Business of Space. Anatomy of a Badass Anatomy of a Badass was inspired by Saint John’s guest participation in... View Details

June 2024 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Driving Scale with Otto

By: Rebecca Karp, David Allen and Annelena Lobb

This case asks how startup founders make scaling decisions in light of their priorities for their business and for themselves. Otto was a technology company that applied artificial intelligence technology to sales. It deployed natural language processing to find sales... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Natural Language Processing; B2B; B2B Innovation; Scaling; Scaling Tech Ventures; Business Startups; AI and Machine Learning; Finance; Sales; Business Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Information Technology Industry; United States; Cambridge; New York (city, NY); Spain

January 2017
Case

Flatiron School

By: Thomas Eisenmann and Halah AlQahtani

In late 2016, the founders of Flatiron School, a startup offering 12-week coding bootcamps, are formulating their growth strategy. Their new online-only program has matched the excellent job placement results for their in-person bootcamps. Should Flatiron shift... View Details

Keywords: Scaling Start-ups; Growth Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Distribution Channels; Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Diversification; Expansion; Education Industry; United States