Publications

01 Mar 2005
News

Venture Capital’s Comeback

$18.9 billion in 2003, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. From Boston to Silicon Valley, top firms are competing for deals again. And the initial public offering market — the favored exit for venture-capital investors — rallied last... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Finance

23 Jul 2024
Cold Call Podcast

Transforming the Workplace for People with Disabilities

Keywords: Re: Lakshmi Ramarajan; Consulting

November 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Wallbox

By: Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui and Max Hancock

Enric Asunción co-founded Wallbox, a private EV charger company, in Spain in 2015. As CEO, Asunción transformed the company from a small start-up, focused on the European market, to a multimillion-dollar enterprise with offices on three continents. In 2021, a private... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Going Public; Acquisition; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Startups; Entrepreneurial Finance; Spain; United States; United Kingdom

November 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Infarm: Betting the (Indoor) Farm on Food Security

By: Elie Ofek

In the summer of 2023, the co-founders of Infarm, a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) company, were contemplating a major pivot going forward. While Infarm had successfully shown it could grow over 75 products—mainly herbs, leafy greens and mushrooms—in modular... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Business Model; Market Entry and Exit; Science-Based Business; Business Strategy; Transition; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Europe; North America; Toronto; Northeastern United States

February 2022 (Revised February 2023)
Case

TikTok in 2020: Super App or Supernova? (Abridged)

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

Keywords: Digital Platform; Artificial Intelligence; AI; Mobile App; Mobile App Industry; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; China

Article

Regulatory, Legal, and Market Aspects of Smart Wearables for Cardiac Monitoring

By: Jan Benedikt Brönneke, Jennifer Müller, Konstantinos Mouratis, Julia Hagen and Ariel Dora Stern

In the area of cardiac monitoring, the use of digitally driven technologies is on the rise. While the development of medical products is advancing rapidly, allowing for new use-cases in cardiac monitoring and other areas, regulatory and legal requirements that govern... View Details

Keywords: Wearables; Regulatory Changes; Medical Technology; Medical Devices; Market Access; Market Entry and Exit; Information Technology; Health Care and Treatment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; United States; Germany; Belgium

Read Now

June 2016
Teaching Plan

Terrapin Laboratory

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Andrew Otazo

This teaching plan accompanies the case "Terrapin Laboratory," HBS No. 315-098. That case describes the formation and rapid growth of a drug testing company. The company needs to decide whether to enter the painkiller testing market, in addition to growing its drug... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth; Entrepreneurial Management; Growth Strategy; Market Entry; Venture Capital; Market Entry and Exit; Entrepreneurship; Health Testing and Trials; Growth and Development Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry

October 1995 (Revised October 1996)
Case

Disney Consumer Products in Lebanon

By: John A. Quelch

The managing director of Disney Consumer Products for Europe and the Middle East is reviewing recent market research in Lebanon regarding the sales potential of Disney licensed products and assessing the pros and cons of several distribution options. View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Multinational Firms and Management; Market Entry and Exit; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; Lebanon

October 1993 (Revised September 1994)
Case

Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal (Condensed)

By: Robert J. Dolan

The business products division has developed a business proposal asking for $50 million to fund the creation of a new telephone system for the small business market. The company's last entry into this marketplace lost $70 million. The new product would face 100... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Communication Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Investment; Product Development; Telecommunications Industry; Canada

Find at Harvard

24 Jan 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: January 24, 2017

selected through exit early in their careers, made time allocation decisions such as delayed marriage, and tended to migrate to places that were conducive to innovation. Father's income was positively correlated with becoming an inventor,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

21 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

Searching for Better Practices in Social Investing

always self-sufficiency on the part of the funded entity. "When we exit our investments, over a 10-year period we've helped an organization get from one level to another level, and it is able to sustain itself without an additional... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

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

November 1997 (Revised August 1998)
Case

Palm Computing, Inc. 1995: Financing Challenges

By: Myra M. Hart and Stephanie Dodson

The president, Donna Dubinsky, and the chairman and founder, Jeff Hawkins, discuss an opportunity to sell their company to U.S. Robotics. They must weigh this option versus accepting venture capital funding, partnering with a large company that could provide... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Partners and Partnerships; Business Exit or Shutdown; Decision Choices and Conditions; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry

April 1993 (Revised May 1993)
Case

Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal

By: Robert J. Dolan

The business products division has developed a business proposal asking for $50 million to fund the creation of a new telephone system for the small business market. The company's last entry into this marketplace lost $70 million. The new product would face 100... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Communication Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Investment; Product Development; Telecommunications Industry; Canada

Find at Harvard

April 2024
Case

ChatGPT Enters the Voice Wars 2024

By: David B. Yoffie and Sarah von Bargen

OpenAI joined the Voice Wars in September 2023 when it launched its voice feature for ChatGPT. Initially only available to Pro subscribers, ChatGPT gave free access to all users two months later. It formed partnerships with a variety of companies, including carmakers,... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Partners and Partnerships; Lawsuits and Litigation; Technology Adoption; Market Entry and Exit; Technology Industry

Article

How Local Context Shapes Digital Business Abroad

By: William R. Kerr

This article identifies how digital businesses need to be adapted to the local environment in which they are being applied. Core ideas include the development of strong barriers to entry, the types of network effects encountered, and the localization of business... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Information Technology; Geographic Location; Market Entry and Exit; Adaptation; Entrepreneurship; Network Effects

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October 1991 (Revised November 1993)
Case

Philips' Compact Disc Introduction (A)

Asks that students adopt the perspective of Philips in 1979, after technical development of the CD was complete, but three years before it was introduced commercially. At that time, Philips' management had to decide whether to attempt to establish a CD standard through... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Product Launch; Standards; Product Development; Technology Industry