Publications

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

March 2019 (Revised July 2020)
Case

MoviePass: The 'Get Big Fast' Strategy

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel W. 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 from related businesses... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry; Growth Strategy; Profit Vs. Growth; Subscription Business; Cash Burn; Data Analytics; Get-big-fast; Buyer Power; Strategy Implementation; Movie Industry; Racing; Entrepreneurship; Market Entry and Exit; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Value Creation; Disruption; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; United States

17 May 2021
News

IPO or M&A? How Venture Capital Shapes a Startup's Future

April 2018 (Revised September 2019)
Case

Shanda Family Office

By: Christopher Malloy, Lauren Cohen and Essie Alamsyah

Tianqiao Chen, founder and CEO of Shanda Group, has set up his family office in the U.S. in 2016 after exiting from Shanda's Internet games business in China in 2014, again pioneering an unconventional approach to the management of a family office. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Management; Strategy; Investment; Goals and Objectives; China; United States

January 2017
Supplement

Terrapin Laboratory: Exercise

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Christopher Payton

In this exercise, we examine the capital requirements of Terrapin Laboratory as they contemplate entering into a new market segment. The company is faced with two potential financing options which have different effects on the ownership structure of the company.... 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

17 Aug 2016
News

Have Obamacare? You might pay more with Aetna leaving the exchanges

March 2000 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Thomas Weisel Partners (A)

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda, Boris Groysberg, Matthew C. Lieb and Scott D Landry

Thomas Weisel, longtime leader of Montgomery Securities, realizes that the sale of Montgomery to NationsBank was the biggest mistake of his life. After his exit from NationsBanc Montgomery Securities, Weisel develops a business plan for a new merchant bank, Thomas... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Business Plan; Financial Institutions; Management Teams; Financial Services Industry

Career Coach

Jonathan Shepherd

Jonathan is CPD's Corporate Relations Director overseeing principal investing: VC/PE, investment management and real estate. Since 2007, he has coached thousands of students & alumni and forged recruiting relationships with hundreds of firms across these... View Details

2016
Working Paper

Alternative Paths of Green Entrepreneurship: The Environmental Legacies of The North Face's Doug Tompkins and Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard

By: Geoffrey Jones and Ben Gettinger

This working paper examines the impact of two entrepreneurs who offered alternative paths to reach their shared goal of a more sustainable world. Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins were respective founders of the prominent outdoor apparel brands Patagonia and The North... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Apparel and Accessories Industry

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April 2019
Case

Afterpay U.S.: The Omnichannel Dilemma

By: Antonio Moreno, Donald Ngwe and George Gonzalez

In 2018, Nick Molnar, the founder of the Australia-based online payment service Afterpay began its expansion to the U.S. market. The service had gained a loyal following in Australia by enabling customers to pay for online purchases through four interest-free... View Details

April 2020 (Revised July 2020)
Case

Amazon in China and India

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Kairavi Dey

Amazon has been unsuccessful in its efforts to develop a business in China. Even though Amazon was an early entrant into China’s e-commerce space, its domestic rivals, especially Alibaba, created innovative business models uniquely suited for the conditions in China. ... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Emerging Markets; Business Strategy; Expansion; Business Model; Retail Industry; China; India; United States

26 Aug 2011
News

Without Steve Jobs, how will Apple fare?

12 Mar 2019
Blog Post

What I Learned in the Africa Rising Short Intensive Program

the same time others have found significant success and are doubling down on their initial investments. What separates the successes from the failures? What lessons should the next generation of Africa-bound business leaders take note... View Details

September 2003 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Direvo Biotech AG

Describes the financing and growth decisions facing Direvo, a young German biotech firm with a customer/partner that wants to become an investor. Also discusses the business model for Direvo's directed evolution technology, with applications in both industrial enzymes... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decisions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Value; Business Startups; Biotechnology Industry; Germany

01 Mar 2007
News

Daniel Vasella

years the growth rate of the vaccine industry will be between 15 and 20 percent, making it a very attractive industry. The margins are, again, not as high as in patented, branded products, but they still are quite attractive. Also, one of the reasons why big pharma... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; multinational pharmaceutical company; prescription drugs; vaccines; Medicare; generics business; Health, Social Assistance

July 2004 (Revised December 2004)
Case

How Venture Capitalists Evaluate Potential Venture Opportunities

By: Michael J. Roberts and Lauren Barley

Four venture capitalists from leading Silicon Valley firms are interviewed about the frameworks they use to evaluate potential venture opportunities. Questions include: How do you evaluate the venture's prospective business model? What due diligence do you conduct?... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Opportunities; Framework; Entrepreneurship; Forecasting and Prediction

June 2017
Case

AKB48: Going Global? (A)

By: Juan Alcácer, Kotaro Sasamoto, Tee Chayakul and Mayuka Yamazaki

After a remarkable success in Japan, the producer of the Japanese female singing group AKB48 evaluates market opportunities overseas for his artistic creation. This case introduces the business model behind the AKB48 concept and allows students to identify what... View Details

09 May 2017
News

The Minimum Wage Eats Restaurants

January 2010 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Google in China (A)

By: John A. Quelch

In January 2010, Google threatened in a public statement to stop censoring its search results on its google.cn website, as required by Chinese authorities. Should Google exit China? Or attempt a compromise with the Chinese government? View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Market Entry and Exit; Business and Government Relations; Internet and the Web; Information Technology Industry; China