Publications

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January 2015 (Revised March 2015)
Case

San Francisco, 2015 #tech #inequality

By: Clayton Rose, Allison Ciechanover and Kunal Modi

In December 2013 a group of angry protesters blocked one of the commuter buses provided by the large Silicon Valley firms (known as "Google buses") which was stopped in San Francisco on its way to the company's headquarters 40 miles south. The protests were a tangible... View Details

Keywords: Income Inequality; Economic Inequalty; Technology; Silicon Valley; Income Characteristics; Equality and Inequality; Technology Industry; United States; California; San Francisco

October 2015
Article

Agglomerative Forces and Cluster Shapes

By: William R. Kerr and Scott Duke Kominers

We model spatial clusters of similar firms. Our model highlights how agglomerative forces lead to localized, individual connections among firms, while interaction costs generate a defined distance over which attraction forces operate. Overlapping firm interactions... View Details

Keywords: Agglomeration; Clusters; Industrial Organization; Silicon Valley; Technology Flows; Patents; Networks; Information Technology; Industry Clusters; Entrepreneurship; California

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January 2014
Technical Note

A Note on Funding Digital Innovation Startups

By: Karim Lakhani, Michael Norris and Andrew Otazo

This note provides information on the state of startup financing in Silicon Valley in 2013. It details different avenues startups have to raise funding, including venture capital, corporate venture capital, angel investors, incubators, and crowdfunding. View Details

Keywords: Startup; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Angel Investors; Accelerator; Crowdfunding; Silicon Valley; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; California

September 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Google: To TVC or Not to TVC?

By: William R. Kerr and Carl Kreitzberg

In late 2018, evidence emerged that many of Google’s temporary help agency workers, vendors, and independent contractors (“TVCs”) were unhappy with the company. TVCs, who reportedly made up 49.95% of Google’s 170,000-person global workforce, had raised concerns of... View Details

November 2016
Case

Anthony Starks at InSiL Therapeutics (A)

By: Gary Pisano and Vicki Sato

When Bruce Wayne hired Anthony Starks, he thought he had hit a home run by getting the most brilliant and passionate scientist-leader in the field to be his CSO. But a few months in, Wayne and Starks begin to clash over crucial forward-looking decisions about the... View Details

Keywords: Biotech; Silicon; Managing Innovation; Management Challenges; Managing People; Managing Organization; R＆D; R＆D Project Management; Platform; Venture Capital; Drug Discovery; management; Biotechnology Industry; California

February 2014 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Strava

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman and Sid Misra

Strava is a new fast-growing social network for the avid cyclist and runner. The Strava case traces the entrepreneurial journey of two serial entrepreneurs who have been co-founders in a prior venture, and who have co-founded Strava 3 years ago. The protagonists must... View Details

October 2019
Teaching Note

Google: To TVC or Not to TVC?

By: William R. Kerr and Carl Kreitzberg

A Teaching Note for the "Google: To TVC or Not to TVC?" case study (HBS#820-048). The case discusses recent controversies regarding how Google manages temporary help agency workers, workers supplied by vendors, and independent contractors ("TVCs"). Such TVCs reportedly... View Details