Business Ventures - Publications - Faculty & Research

January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Case

Jumia's Path to Profitability

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in September 2019 as Sacha Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodara, co-founders and co-CEOs of Jumia, the leading Pan-African e-commerce platform, are contemplating the company’s path to profitability in the aftermath of a fragile investor sentiment, as the company... View Details

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18 Apr 2020
Working Paper Summaries

How Are Small Businesses Adjusting to COVID-19? Early Evidence From a Survey

Keywords: by Alexander Bartik, Marianne Bertrand, Zoë B. Cullen, Edward L. Glaeser, Michael Luca, and Christopher Stanton

January 2017
Supplement

Hello Alfred: Come Home Happy — Operating the Business Model Exercise

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Christopher Payton

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: Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Service Operations; Service Industry; New York (city, NY); Boston

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August 2015 (Revised June 2016)
Supplement

Dinr: My First Start-up (B)

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Kristina Maslauskaite

Keywords: Business Exit; Business Startup; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Food

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20 Aug 2024
Cold Call Podcast

Angel City Football Club: A New Business Model for Women’s Sports

Keywords: Re: Jeffrey F. Rayport; Sports; Entertainment & Recreation

15 Dec 2023
News

Exploring Business Opportunities in Africa; Alumni Grapple with Plastic Waste Problem

Clubs News Clubs News Webinar illuminates broad array of business opportunities across Africa On December 5th, the HBS African-American Alumni Association (HBSAAA) hosted ‘Doing Business in Africa: From Opportunity to Action’, a webinar panel of HBS alumni who shared... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

March 2021 (Revised October 2023)
Case

Mary Kay Ash: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Shirley Sun

This case describes the rise of Mary Kay, the founder of the worldwide cosmetics company. As a young single mother, Mary Kay had to overcome many obstacles to start her business and guide it to success. Today, there are more than 3.5 million Mary Kay beauty consultants... View Details

Keywords: Business Start-ups; Entrepreneurship; Values and Beliefs; Business Startups; Work-Life Balance; Success; Religion; Family Business; Personal Development and Career; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

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March 2021 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Blue Meridian Partners (A): Scaling for Impact

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

In 2018, Edna McConnell Clark Foundation in a bold move transferred all its assets to a fund pooled with other General Partners and Limited Partners, called Blue Meridian Partners, to focus substantial long range investments in a few carefully chosen nonprofits.The... View Details

Keywords: Venture Philanthropy; Scaling; COVID-19 Pandemic; Social Justice; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Venture Capital; Business Model; Social Issues; Poverty; Values and Beliefs; Decisions; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Nonprofit Organizations; Investment Portfolio

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Web

Your Social Entrepreneurship checklist | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

Competition provides a unique opportunity for students to put entrepreneurship principles into practice with an integrative learning experience. Students may participate in either the Business Track (for View Details

05 May 2003
Research & Ideas

What It Takes to Restore Trust in Business

The crisis in American business has spawned tales of colorful characters who will surely live on in folk memory, quipped Harvard Business School professor D. Quinn Mills: the ignorant CEO; the creative... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

2018
Chapter

Britain: Global Legacy and Domestic Persistence

By: Geoffrey Jones

This chapter explores the British experience in a volume which examines the historical evolution of business groups in developed Western economies. The chapter argues that during the nineteenth century British merchant houses established business groups with... View Details

Keywords: Business Groups; Conglomerates; Globalization; Entrepreneurship; Business History; Organizations; Business Conglomerates; United Kingdom

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March 28, 2016
Article

Why the 21st Century Will Belong to Family Businesses

By: Josh Baron

Keywords: Modernization; Family Business; Family Ownership

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20 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

Users Love Ello, But What’s the Business Model?

that social media users are increasingly attracted to the idea of such a model. But funding it without advertising's help won't be easy. Two digital marketing experts, Harvard Business School professors John Deighton, the Harold M.... View Details

Keywords: Re: John A. Deighton & Sunil Gupta; Publishing; Financial Services

Web

Joseph O'Donnell | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

International Robert Higgins Highland Capital Richard Jenrette Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Dean LeBaron Batterymarch Erling Lorentzen Aracruz Dan Lufkin Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Thomas Murphy Capital Cities/ABC Joseph O’Donnell Boston Concessions Robert Reiss R&R... View Details

Web

Entrepreneurs | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

International Robert Higgins Highland Capital Richard Jenrette Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Dean LeBaron Batterymarch Erling Lorentzen Aracruz Dan Lufkin Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Thomas Murphy Capital Cities/ABC Joseph O’Donnell Boston Concessions Robert Reiss R&R... View Details

October 2005
Article

Growing Talent As If Your Business Depended on It

By: Jeff Cohn, Rakesh Khurana and Laura Reeves

Keywords: Growth and Development; Business Ventures

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22 Feb 2022
News

Elevator Pitch: Good Vibrations

won’t take those medications due to side effects. There’s a real gap for a simple treatment you can use earlier in the disease trajectory.” Status Update: The grand prize winner in the Alumni New Venture Competition, Bone Health... View Details

Keywords: medical device; healthcare; entrepreneurship; Alumni New Venture Competition

2022
Working Paper

Getting on the Map: The Impact of Online Listings on Business Performance

By: Michael Luca, Abhishek Nagaraj and Gauri Subramani

We evaluate the extent to which small businesses maintain an online presence, looking at restaurant listings on a major online review platform. While the majority of restaurants have an online presence, we find that roughly 18 percent in our sample have no presence as... View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Internet and the Web; Revenue; Digital Marketing; Food and Beverage Industry

winter 1984
Article

Business and Government: The Origins of the Adversary Relationship

Keywords: Business Ventures; Government and Politics; Relationships

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May 2017 (Revised November 2017)
Case

Cotopaxi: Managing Growth for Good

By: Andy Wu and Laura Huang

Cotopaxi, an innovative outdoor gear business targeting millennials, focuses on profit and social impact. This registered benefit corporation was formed by Davis Smith who coalesced his experiences as a Wharton MBA student along with professional knowledge from an... View Details