Publications

October 1998 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Spotfire: Managing a Multinational Start-Up

Spotfire, a software start-up, must address the question of dividing its effort between Sweden and the United States in addition to raising venture capital, obtaining new customers, and managing early-stage growth. View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry; United States; Sweden

01 Jun 2020
News

Vital Signs

and CEO of Natalist, a direct-to-consumer fertility company. We talked with Tecco about how the pandemic has impacted the health care startup and venture capital ecosystem. What ideas and companies have seen an increase in funding during... View Details

Keywords: Jen Mele; COVID-19; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance

2015
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Beatriz Cardoso and Education in Brazil

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Daniella Suarez and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Beatriz Cardoso, founder of Laboratório de Educação (Education Laboratory) had a dream to propel Brazilian education. However, challenges in fundraising made it difficult to scale up her project, based on helping adults help children improve their literacy skills. To... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Education; Business Startups; Information Technology; Leading Change; Brazil

March 2000 (Revised June 2001)
Case

AES: Hungarian Project (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Ann Leamon

The AES Corp., the world's largest independent power producer, has put out a request for bids to build a new power plant in Hungary. Just after the closing date for submitting bids, one of the contractors calls to request an opportunity to "improve" its bid. Although... View Details

Keywords: Bids and Bidding; Energy Generation; Technology Adoption; Business Startups; Ethics; Value; Energy Industry; Hungary

Find at Harvard

21 Aug 2019
Blog Post

Leveraging Academic Opportunities to Attain My Post-HBS Job

leverage two opportunities during my final semester. One was an Independent Project (IP), and the other was the final project for the Scaling Technology Ventures course. Career Exploration Using Alternative Methods In the fall... View Details

25 Feb 2025
Blog Post

Making a Broader Impact with Multiple Disciplines: Santosh Iyer (MBA 2020)

beyond human capability. I focus on commercializing science and building businesses around these transformative technologies to democratize access to high-quality surgical care for billions worldwide. My fascination with robotics and... View Details

22 Aug 2019
News

Getting There

as one of the largest tech startups in Southeast Asia. The cofounders sat next to one another in Business at the Base of the Pyramid at HBS, where case discussions focused their attention on building businesses with double or triple... View Details

Keywords: Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation; Transportation

November 2016 (Revised October 2018)
Case

Formlabs: Selling a New 3D Printer

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Olivia Hull and Amram Migdal

Headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, Formlabs manufactures 3D printers used to print everything from prototypes and models to jewelry, dental, and sculpture molds. As Formlabs prepares to ship its latest model, the Form 2, Head of Customer Development and... View Details

June 2000
Case

Hollydazzle.com

This case describes the unique underlying economics of a start-up Internet retailing company. It highlights the fact that costs in that setting have a component that varies with volume and thus seriously impacts profitability. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Retail Industry

2009
Case

The North America Environmental Fund (NAEF)

By: Roberto Charvel, Fernando Fabre and T. Putimahtama

NAEF was the first VC fund created in Latin America. It was also the first fund to focus on green technologies. The fund and its managers confronted several issues regarding the under-developed governance and cultural structures required for succesful VC investments. View Details

Keywords: Clean Tech; Emerging Market; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Energy; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Governance; Technology; Green Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry; Latin America; North and Central America