Startup - Publications - Faculty & Research

June 2024
Case

SnapTravel: Betting on 'Super.com'

By: Reza Satchu and Tom Quinn

This case explores SnapTravel, a travel startup offering discounted hotel rooms, and its founders’ desire to pivot to a “super app” that saved customers money across many different purchase types. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hussein Fazal and Henry Shi saw SnapTravel... View Details

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January 2021 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Biobot Analytics

By: Raymond Kluender, Joshua Krieger and Mitchell Weiss

In 2017, Newsha Ghaeli and Mariana Matus were deciding whether to leave their labs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, put other job opportunities aside, and dive full-time into founding a wastewater analysis start-up, Biobot. Ghaeli, an architect, and Matus,... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; City; Analytics and Data Science; Personal Development and Career; Technology Industry; Utilities Industry; Health Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States; Kuwait; Korean Peninsula

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25 Aug 2020
Blog Post

Hikma Health + HBS MBAs Crowdsource Largest County-Level COVID-19 Dataset

When COVID-19 cases in the US began to spike in March, Hikma Health, a digital health startup from the Harvard i-lab and winner of the 2019 Harvard Business School (HBS) New Venture Competition, asked how they could best help to stop the... View Details

E. Scott Mayfield

Scott Mayfield is a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration in the Finance Unit at the Harvard Business School. Prior rejoining the faculty in 2011, Professor Mayfield was an assistant professor and member of the Finance Unit at HBS from 1997 to... View Details

23 Sep 2019
News

The $100 Trillion Opportunity: The Race To Provide Banking To The World’s Poor

September 2021 (Revised November 2022)
Case

MAYA Capital

By: Robert F. White, Carla Larangeira and Pedro Levindo

MAYA Capital co-founders Lara Lemann and Monica Saggioro raised $41.5 million through a series of closings for their early-stage Latin American venture capital fund. The two women had met for the first time in mid-2016 when Lemann was contemplating scaling her angel... View Details

Keywords: Early Stage; Portfolio Construction; Fund Management; Investment; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment Portfolio; Strategy; Business Startups; Management; Investment Funds; Latin America

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06 Nov 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, November 6, 2018

of a black-owned beauty startup and the unmet needs within the beauty industry. This case study examines the entrepreneurial opportunities that come from identifying an underserved market, specifically within the black community. Students... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

August 2021 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion

By: Michael W. Toffel, Kenneth P. Pucker and Eren Kuzucu

The Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion (A) case introduces Allbirds as a footwear startup not only focused on simple design, comfort, and sustainable natural materials but on decarbonizing the wider fashion industry. Background material highlights the growing... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Climate Impact; Environmental Strategy; Innovation; Product Design; Supply Chain Management; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Product Development; Climate Change; Environmental Management; Environmental Sustainability; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; United States; California

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For many CEOs, particularly those running startups, hiring the right people is the single biggest determinant of whether a new business survives. And so it makes sense that the chief executive should be View Details

November 2016 (Revised October 2018)
Case

IguanaFix

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Thomas R. Eisenmann, Maria Fernanda Miguel and Laura Urdapilleta

IguanaFix is a rapidly scaling Latin American startup that provides an online platform connecting consumers with home improvement contractors. The founders have acquired customers through both B2C and B2B methods. But in seeking to grow and scale the business, they now... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Marketing; Home Improvement Services; Marketing Management; Scaling; Entrepreneurship; Marketing; Sales; Online Advertising; Latin America

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October 2024
Case

NextGen CDR Facility: From Davos to Details

By: Peter Tufano, Emily A. Chien and Karina Val

Next Gen CDR is a startup that pools corporate commitments to purchase Tech CDR, which promises to permanently remove and store carbon from the atmosphere to combat climate change. A partnership between South Pole and Mitsubishi Corp., Next Gen has secured initial... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Partners and Partnerships; Corporate Governance; Investment; Agreements and Arrangements

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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

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Article

Local Industrial Conditions and Entrepreneurship: How Much of the Spatial Distribution Can We Explain?

By: Edward L. Glaeser and William R. Kerr

Why are some places more entrepreneurial than others? We use Census Bureau data to study local determinants of manufacturing startups across cities and industries. Demographics have limited explanatory power. Overall levels of local customers and suppliers are only... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Geographic Location; Employment; Market Entry and Exit; Supply Chain; Manufacturing Industry

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June 2020
Case

Career Karma: Growth in a Time of Global Uncertainty (A)

By: Laura Huang, Elizabeth Jiang and Brandon Yu

Career Karma is a startup focused on helping individuals looking to transition careers into computer engineering roles or similar fields by preparing them for formal technical training programs, or “coding bootcamps,” that would lead to a successful career pivot upon... View Details

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October 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Case

NewView Capital and Venture Capital Secondaries

By: Shai Bernstein, Ramana Nanda and Allison Ciechanover

While still a general partner at Silicon Valley–based New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Ravi Viswanathan considered the challenges presented by evolving market dynamics in the venture capital space. Startups were staying private longer, which led to limited partners... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Capital Markets; Private Equity; Strategy

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August 2023 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Sky Therapeutics: Innovating in Digital Therapeutics

By: Satish Tadikonda, Olivia Reszczynski and William Marks

Shad Faraz and Alex Youssef were intrigued by the opportunities in the relatively new area of Digital Therapeutics. Despite initial successes, early entrants had struggled with reimbursement and revenue-predictability challenges. However, venture investors still... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Mission and Purpose; Health Industry; Technology Industry

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10 Sep 2024
Blog Post

Leading with Creative Problem Solving: Ron Kurtz (MBA 1967)

As a youngster, I used to create “stores” in my driveway, selling things to other neighborhood kids. It was an entrepreneurial inclination fostered by growing up in a family that owned retail stores and enjoyed telling stories of their sales. Advertising was a popular... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

10 Sep 2024
Blog Post

Leading with Creative Problem Solving: Ron Kurtz (MBA 1967)

Learn about the career resources available to HBS alumni through HBS Career & Professional Development As a youngster, I used to create “stores” in my driveway, selling things to other neighborhood kids. It was an entrepreneurial inclination fostered by growing up... View Details

18 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 18

Second, we compare patenting by venture‐backed startups and incumbent firms. Using a variety of measures, we find that VC‐backed startups are engaged in more novel and more highly cited innovations compared... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2019
Case

Monetizing Insurance at Trov

By: Thales Teixeira, Samy Dana and Leandro A Guissoni

Trov is a disruptive startup in the insurance space (“insurtech”). It allows consumers to simply turn on and turn off insurance for each of their possessions on a mobile app with the swipe of a finger. Consumers love the simple, on-demand, single-item coverage product.... View Details

Keywords: Monetization; Decoupling; Business Startups; Insurance; Disruption; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Strategy; Insurance Industry

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