Publications

November 2000
Case

Wit Capital: Evolution of the Online Investment Bank (B)

Describes the evolution of Wit Capital from its origins as a small brewery to an online investment bank advising both small technology-based companies seeking to raise capital and large companies seeking to acquire Internet companies, as well as offering retail... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Disruptive Innovation; Service Delivery; Investment Banking; Entrepreneurship

20 Dec 2018
Cold Call Podcast

Using Fintech to Disrupt Eastern Bank from Within

Keywords: Re: Karen Mills; Banking; Financial Services

July 2001 (Revised December 2001)
Case

American Express Interactive

By: Lynda M. Applegate

Follows the protagonist, Sonia Sharpe, as she and her American Express Interactive Team attempt to develop and market an interactive, on-line, corporate travel service in a highly competitive environment. Looks at the possible resources and partnerships a company needs... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Partners and Partnerships; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Applications and Software; Technological Innovation; Global Strategy; Expansion; Information Technology; Vertical Integration; Financial Services Industry; Travel Industry

Find at Harvard

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

SSRN

Read Now

September 2000 (Revised November 2002)
Case

Amazon.com: 1994-2000

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Meredith Collura

Enables a thorough analysis of Amazon.com and the company's value proposition, in terms of its business concept, digital business capabilities, and community and shareholder value. Examines the company's complex set of business models and web of business relationships,... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Asset Pricing; Capital; Financial Strategy; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Web Services Industry

Find at Harvard

March 2024
Teaching Note

'Storrowed': A Generative AI Exercise

By: Mitchell Weiss

Teaching Note for HBS Exercise No. 824-188. “Storrowed” is an exercise to help participants raise their proficiency with generative AI. It begins by highlighting a problem: trucks getting wedged underneath bridges in Boston, Massachusetts on the city’s Storrow Drive.... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Government Administration; Transportation Industry; Public Administration Industry

Article

Entrepreneurial Creativity Through Motivational Synergy

By: T. M. Amabile

This paper defines and describes entrepreneurial creativity, which is the generation and implementation of novel, appropriate ideas to establish a new venture. Entrepreneurial creativity can be exhibited in established organizations as well as in start-up firms. The... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Motivation and Incentives; Organizational Culture; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention

Find at Harvard

02 Aug 2010
Research & Ideas

Modern Indian Art: The Birth of a Market

and valuation of the goods. However, we also show that firms' agency is circumscribed not only by the context they are embedded in, but also by the actions of other firms as well as noncommercial entities in the ecosystem. Q: Does your work provide practical advice for... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

July 2000 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Guidant: Radiation Therapy

Describes a potential new approach to treating cardiac disease--radiation therapy. Guidant, a leading medical device maker, faces a choice about whether to pursue this new and risky technology and, if so with what strategy. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Decisions; Innovation Strategy; Health Care and Treatment; Product Design; Corporate Strategy; Medical Specialties; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry

22 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 23

link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53122 2017 The Entrepreneur's Roadmap: From Concept to IPO Entrepreneurship in Larger Companies By: Kerr, William R. Abstract—Entrepreneurship in large and established companies is... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2011 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Hassina Sherjan

By: Robert G. Eccles, George Serafeim and Pippa Eccles

Hassina Sherjan was born in Afghanistan but grew up and was educated in the United States. A trip to Afghanistan when she was an adult inspired her to move back to her home country with two missions. The first was to educate young women through a non-profit... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Accounting; Non-Governmental Organizations; Nonprofit Organizations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Innovation Leadership; Development Economics; Growth and Development; Problems and Challenges; Retail Industry; Afghanistan; United States

October 2009 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Tengion: Bringing Regenerative Medicine to Life

By: Elie Ofek and Polly Ross Ribatt

Tengion is a young biotech company that is at the frontier of regenerative medicine—a nascent field that seeks to promote the creation of new cells and tissue to repair or replace tissue or organ function lost due to age, disease, damage, or congenital defects. In late... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Product Launch; Product Development; Research and Development; Biotechnology Industry; United States

January 2020 (Revised July 2020)
Supplement

MoviePass: The 'Get Big Fast' Strategy

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

In August 2017, MoviePass dramatically lowered its subscription price from $50 per month to just $10 for up to one movie per day. The idea was to rapidly scale the business to the point where they could generate incremental revenue streams form related businesses... View Details

30 Nov 2016
Op-Ed

Where Could More Regulation Help Small Businesses? Online Lending.

the new president take aim at streamlining financial regulation, they should consider our six point Regulatory Action Plan, outlined in our Harvard Business School working paper released today, Small Business Lending: Innovation and... View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills and Brayden McCarthy; Financial Services

March 2022
Case

The Future of Start-Up Chile

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Ruth Costas and Pedro Levindo

In 2021, public accelerator program Start-Up Chile, which ten years earlier had created a global buzz, might be losing its competitive edge to similar programs or one-year visas for digital nomads offered by other countries. The case follows SUP’s CEO, Angeles Romo, as... View Details

03 Apr 2019
Book

Fintech's Game-Changing Opportunities for Small Business

United States economy, and how innovation in financial services will reduce the friction and barriers in small-business lending, helping more of them thrive. In our Q&A, Mills, who served as a member of the Obama Cabinet and headed... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Banking; Financial Services

January 2024 (Revised April 2024)
Teaching Note

Somatus: Value-Based Kidney Care (A) & (B)

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

This teaching note accompanies case no. 622-009 and 622-045 (Somatus: Value-Based Kidney Care, A and B). View Details

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

October 2014
Supplement

Quiet Logistics (B)

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

This two-part case focuses on how to identify and manage strategic uncertainties in an innovative, entrepreneurial start-up company. In the (A) case, students learn about Quiet Logistics, an e-commerce fulfillment company working with high-end apparel retailers such as... View Details