Publications

February 2008 (Revised August 2014)
Case

MedVal Ventures

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Is medical travel a viable business opportunity? A group of MBA students consider the pros and cons of starting a business that would send people from the U.S. to India for elective non-emergency surgeries. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Cost Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Travel Industry; India; United States

01 Dec 2023
News

Case Study: Staking a Claim

Illustration by Nhung Lê Kate Terry (MBA 2005) knows that no one attends their fifth-grade career fair and comes home hoping to pursue a career in insurance—but that’s exactly where she wound up. “I really fell in love with it,” she says. As cofounder and CEO of... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Insurance Carriers and Related Activities; Finance

Web

2023 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

Reunions 2023 Reunion Presentations At Reunions, HBS faculty and other thought leaders address a range of issues facing business and society. Program recordings and materials (slide deck, handouts, etc.) are made available only when... View Details

27 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 27

and Organizational Issues Thomas Eisenmann and Alison Berkley WagonfeldHarvard Business School Note 812-100 This note discusses the organizational challenges that startups often encounter as they begin to... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

19 Feb 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Amazoned: Is Any Industry Safe?

iPhoto Jeff Bezos, visiting a Harvard Business School classroom 21 years ago, told skeptical students his goal with Amazon.com was to "sell everything to everyone everywhere." Even dog food? students wondered, which would... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

25 May 2023
News

Brazil’s Nubank Turns 10

Guilherme Lago (MBA 2005) Guilherme Lago (MBA 2005) Ten years after its founding, the Brazilian digital banking startup Nubank recorded all-time record revenues ($1.6 billion) in the first quarter of 2023—doubling its performance over... View Details

Keywords: Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Finance

September 2001 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Webvan

Examines Webvan's operations and the processes by which it delivers groceries that were ordered from the Internet to customers' homes. Recounts Webvan's history from founding through early 2001 and concentrates on the unique approaches to warehousing, delivery,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Failure; Business Startups; Consumer Products Industry; Service Industry

April 1999
Case

Trexel

Describes an interesting plastics technology and an entrepreneur's attempts to build a business around it. Highlights issues around managing technical and market risk. Teaching purpose: Highlights difficult decisions around building a business off of an unproven... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Business Startups; Risk Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Information Technology; Corporate Entrepreneurship

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

16 May 2023
In Practice

After Silicon Valley Bank's Flameout, What's Next for Entrepreneurs?

investments and triggered a run on deposits, gave pause to startup investors and also holds lessons for founders going forward. Harvard Business School faculty suggest some key takeaways for the View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Technology; Financial Services

23 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

The Founder of Modern Venture Capital

Georges F. Doriot, an educator and a founder of the modern venture capital industry, is the subject of a new exhibition and website at Harvard Business School, where he spent 40 years. The charismatic professor taught View Details

Keywords: Education; Financial Services

Web

Leadership - Faculty & Research

It emphasizes the importance of aligning revenue models with core brand promises to sustain long-term user trust and growth. Keywords: AI and Machine Learning ; Venture Capital ; Innovation Leadership ; Technological Innovation ; Internet and the Web ; View Details

August 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Case

BlueVine Capital: Growth Factors

By: Marco Di Maggio and Nathaniel Schwalb

The start-up, BlueVine Capital Inc. (BlueVine), used data and technology to help finance small businesses via factoring and lines of credit. The case explains the small business financing market in mid-2010s, how CEO Eyal Lifshitz identified the opportunity for... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Business Startups; Small Business; Financing and Loans; Innovation Leadership; Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry

05 Dec 2023
Cold Call Podcast

What Founders Get Wrong about Sales and Marketing

Keywords: Re: Mark N. Roberge

Forthcoming
Book

The World Is Your Office: How Work from Anywhere Boosts Talent, Productivity, and Innovation

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury

A research-based look at a growing phenomenon—companies allowing their employees to work from anywhere in the world—and how those who adopt this model can boost talent, innovation, and productivity.
In recent years, companies in a wide range of industries have... View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; Telecommuting; Employees; Business Offices; Organizational Culture; Retention; Recruitment; Policy; Competitive Advantage

August 2021
Case

Livongo: Scaling a Purpose-Driven Organization in Healthcare

By: Ranjay Gulati, Aseem Shukla and Reva Nohria

When seasoned entrepreneur Glen Tullman founded the chronic health care startup Livongo in 2014, it was personal. His son lived with diabetes, and Tullman knew firsthand how taxing it could be to manage such an unrelenting disease. Livongo set out to empower people... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare Industry; Scaling; Telehealth; Health Care and Treatment; Small Business; Internet and the Web; Customer Focus and Relationships; Growth and Development Strategy; Opportunities; Mergers and Acquisitions; Health Industry