Publications

December 2020
Supplement

Video Interview with Felecia Hatcher

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Joyce J. Kim

Four diverse women entrepreneurs launched their ventures in a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem that was part of a shift to a creative technology-driven economy for Miami. Although Miami was rated the #1 U.S. city for startups in 2017, the region contained structural... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Ecosystems; Female Entrepreneur; Sexism; Racism; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Diversity; Gender; Race; Prejudice and Bias; City; Culture; Miami

September 2024
Case

Myeloma Investment Fund

By: Kyle Myers and Scott Sawaya

This case explores a critical decision facing the Myeloma Investment Fund (MIF) as it evaluates two investment opportunities aimed at accelerating a cure for multiple myeloma.

The MIF, a venture philanthropy fund, must choose between two distinct paths. One... View Details

Keywords: Venture Philanthropy; Biomedical Research; Investing For Impact; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Science-Based Business; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Decision Making; Health Care and Treatment; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

2021
Working Paper

Getting Schooled: The Role of Universities in Attracting Immigrant Entrepreneurs

By: Natee Amornsiripanitch, Paul A. Gompers, George Hu and Kaushik Vasudevan

Immigrant founders of venture capital-backed companies have been critical to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. We document the channels through which immigrant founders find their way to the United States and how those channels have changed over time. Immigrants have been... View Details

Keywords: Immigrants; Entrepreneurial Ecosystem; Higher Education; Immigration; Entrepreneurship

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March 2018
Article

Hospital Budget Systems are Holding Back Innovation

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Michael S. Jellinek and Derek A. Haas

Nearly 800 digital health startups were funded in 2017, an all-time high. Each of the new companies offers the hope of transforming the performance of the U.S. health care system. The audience for such innovation wants to be receptive: A recent American Hospital... View Details

November 2019
Article

Conversations and Idea Generation: Evidence from a Field Experiment

By: Sharique Hasan and Rembrand Koning

When do conversations lead people to generate better ideas? We conducted a field experiment at a startup boot camp to evaluate the impact of informal conversations on the quality of product ideas generated by participants. Specifically, we examine how the personality... View Details

Keywords: Peer Effects; Field Experiment; Interpersonal Communication; Creativity; Personal Characteristics; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention

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June 2014 (Revised November 2014)
Case

Investing in Online Marketplaces

By: Andrei Hagiu and Hermes Alvarez

Simon Rothman had recently been promoted from executive-in-residence to Partner at esteemed venture capital firm Greylock Partners and placed in charge of managing a $100 million early-stage fund commitment dedicated to online marketplaces. In Greylock's view, 2014 was... View Details

Keywords: Business Models; Competitive Advantage; Entrepreneurship; Internet; Investments; Networks; Technology; Venture Capital

09 Feb 2021
News

SIPs in 2021

17 Oct 2023
HBS Case

With Subscription Fatigue Setting In, Companies Need to Think Hard About Fees

to consumers’ reluctance to change vendors, and the ability to sell more products to this seemingly captive group. “A lot of startups are incorporating subscription models into their business plans, partly because investors are pushing... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Consumer Products; Information; Information Technology

May 2025
Teaching Note

The VideaHealth AI Factory: CEO Florian Hillen on Speed, Scale, and Innovation

By: Tsedal Neeley

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 425-720. Florian Hillen, co-founder and CEO of VideaHealth, a startup using artificial intelligence (AI) to detect dental conditions on x-rays, spent the early years of his company laying the groundwork for an AI factory. This AI factory,... View Details

Keywords: Diagnostics; Organization Design; Change Management; Disruption; Transformation; Health Care and Treatment; AI and Machine Learning; Technological Innovation; Technology Adoption; Disruptive Innovation; Management Style; Organizational Culture; Success; Adoption; Technology Industry; Health Industry; United States

October 2024 (Revised November 2024)
Case

SWEN Blue Ocean: Impact Investing Goes to Sea

By: Vikram S Gandhi and David Allen

In August 2023, SWEN Blue Ocean, a €170 million impact fund that invested in startups contributing to ocean sustainability, faced a critical investment decision. Part of SWEN Capital Partners, an €8 billion, Paris-based private equity fund, Blue Ocean was co-founded in... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Investment Funds; Science-Based Business; Technological Innovation; Financial Services Industry; France; Paris; Italy

December 2009 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Phreesia: The Patient Intake Company

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Sunaina Yarlagadda and Brian L. Walker

How should the co-founders of an organization that provides patient sign-in and billing services scale their company after five years of successfully targeting small private physician practices? Phreesia had deployed a direct mail and sales force strategy that resulted... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Social Entrepreneurship; Revenue; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

May 2009 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Verne Global: Building a Green Data Center in Iceland

Verne Global, a pioneering startup created to build the first large-scale data center in Iceland, faces critical challenges regarding its green strategy. Verne Co-Founder Isaac Kato is tasked with evaluating how the company can most successfully market and sell the... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Business Startups; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Sales; Environmental Sustainability; Pollutants; Green Technology Industry; Service Industry; Iceland

2023
Working Paper

How Resilient Is Venture-Backed Innovation? Evidence from Four Decades of U.S. Patenting

By: Sabrina T. Howell, Josh Lerner, Ramana Nanda and Richard Townsend

Despite theoretical predictions to the contrary, corporate innovation is strongly pro-cyclical. In this paper, we compare innovation in the economy as a whole to that of firms backed by venture capital (VC), a source of capital associated with the most impactful young... View Details

Keywords: Recessions; Venture Capital; Innovation and Invention; Patents; Business Cycles; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation

SSRN

Web

Courses - Entrepreneurship

Avoiding Startup Failure Lindsay Hyde Spring 2024 Q3Q4 3.0 Building Web 3 Businesses Scott Duke Kominers Shai Bernstein Spring 2024 Q3 1.5 Business Marketing and Sales (also listed under Marketing) TBD Spring 2024 Q4 1.5 Data for Impact... View Details

Program

Competing in the Age of Digital Platforms

opportunities in the business of platforms Senior leaders overseeing specific platforms at large platform organizations Entrepreneurs and startup founders of platform businesses Board members interested in exploring or understanding... View Details

TeachingInterests

Field Course: Social Innovation Lab

This course provides students an opportunity to address a social enterprise topic with the discipline of business tools and techniques. Students will work in teams, choosing among three types of projects: a) developing a business plan for your own social enterprise;... View Details

Research Summary

Recruiting specialized inventors into young organizations

Commercializing nascent technologies may require the expertise of those intimately involved in the original invention, especially when tacit knowledge is essential. Yet the organization home to the original invention may not serve as the best commercialization... View Details

February 2025
Case

Managing Complexity at mymuesli

By: Thomas Graeber and Stacy Straaberg

In April 2009, direct-to-consumer e-commerce muesli brand mymuesli faced a flood of customer questions. The breakfast cereal startup enabled users to order personalized muesli on its website by choosing from 75 organic ingredients for a total of 566 quadrillion... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Decisions; Food; Product Marketing; Product Positioning; Product Launch; Problems and Challenges; Behavior; Competitive Advantage; Customization and Personalization; Segmentation; Internet and the Web; Food and Beverage Industry; Europe; Germany