Publications

2018
Working Paper

Coordination Frictions in Venture Capital Syndicates

By: Ramana Nanda and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

An extensive literature on venture capital has studied asymmetric information and agency problems between investors and entrepreneurs, examining how separating entrepreneurs from the investor can create frictions that might inhibit the funding of good projects. It has... View Details

Keywords: Syndication; Venture Capital; Networks; Entrepreneurship

SSRN

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2013
Teaching Note

Ningbo FOTILE Kitchen Ware Co., Ltd. (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Zheng Xiaoming, Yuren Fang and Hong Zhang

Since 2008, FOTILE has actively introduced philosophies of the traditional Chinese culture—such as benevolence, justice, courtesy, wisdom and faith—into its management, which it believes to compensate for deficiencies in Western management concepts and creates a new... View Details

Keywords: Human Resource Management; China; Human Resources; Leadership; Management; Strategy; China

17 Feb 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

How Entrepreneurs Can Find the Right Problem to Solve

Entrepreneurial Management Unit at the Harvard Business School. [Image by: iStock Photo ] Other stories by Julia Austin Making the Right Technical Hire How Scale Changes a Manager's Responsibilities Startup or Established Company? Which... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

March 2025 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Perplexity: Redefining Search

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Michelle Hu, Sriraghav Srinivasan and Radhika Kak

By early 2025, Perplexity had rapidly evolved from a modest startup into a popular "answer engine" valued at $9 billion. The company had boldly positioned itself as the disruptor to Google aiming to redefine search for the AI age. Through novel AI... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Venture Capital; Innovation Leadership; Technological Innovation; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Competitive Strategy; Business Model; Technology Industry; United States

Research Summary

Overview

By: Rohit Deshpande

Customer Centricity Rohit Deshpandé's research program focuses on Customer-Centricity. A stream of projects examines the interaction between corporate and national culture as they influence the development and implementation of global marketing strategies in high... View Details

July 2020
Supplement

PeopleAnswers (B): The Infor Acquisition

By: Daniel P. Gross

In the fall of 2009, founder and CEO Gab Goncalves has turned PeopleAnswers, Inc. from a fledgling startup to a steadily growing company of nearly 50 employees and $10 million recurring revenue. PeopleAnswers provides people analytics software which its clients use to... View Details

Keywords: People Analytics; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Growth and Development; Human Resources; Selection and Staffing; Mergers and Acquisitions

15 Feb 2022
Book

When Working Harder Doesn’t Work, Time to Reinvent Your Career

brain’s prefrontal cortex degrades in effectiveness. Innovation for physicists peaks at age 50; writers, between 40 and 45; financial professionals, between 36 and 40; and doctors in their 30s. Startups favor the young; most founders are... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

July 2020
Case

PeopleAnswers (A): People Analytics

By: Daniel P. Gross and Christian Godwin

In the fall of 2009, founder and CEO Gab Goncalves has turned PeopleAnswers, Inc. from a fledgling startup to a steadily growing company of nearly 50 employees and $10 million recurring revenue. PeopleAnswers provides people analytics software which its clients use to... View Details

Keywords: People Analytics; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Growth and Development; Human Resources; Selection and Staffing

Web

Profiles - MBA

J.P. Morgan's new sustainable investing growth fund, focused on startups with Climate Tech. The simultaneous exposure to daily calls with founders and formal investment committee meetings painted a holistic picture of the entrepreneurial... View Details

17 Jan 2023
In Practice

8 Trends to Watch in 2023

As 2023 begins, businesses and employees face an uncertain economy and labor market, as the twin dilemmas of inflation and interest rates weigh on forecasts. Harvard Business School faculty share the top trends that they believe will shape the workplace and markets... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

01 Dec 2023
News

Wide Horizon

startup that was developing a treatment for some rare condition, with the directive to “get smart” on it before a Friday meeting. He knew how and where to look for answers. As he started to read more of the research, he did indeed find... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; Photos by Sarah Wilson

August 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Unifying Divisions: Joro's Mission to Preserve the Planet

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Marilyn Morgan Westner

The case focuses on the initial startup team and Founders’ agreements. In March 2018, Sanchali Pal proposed renegotiating the informal founders’ agreement and equity split she and her co-founders had drafted the previous spring. They had been working together for over... View Details

Keywords: Founders' Agreements; Business Startups; Climate Change; Agreements and Arrangements; Conflict Management

Web

Skydeck - Alumni

Baskits president and CEO Robin Kovitz (MBA 2007) on the tactics and the trials of her “acquisition entrepreneurship” journey Quantum Leap Quantum computing has revolutionary potential, but it’s been stuck in the lab. John Levy (MBA 1979) thinks his View Details

March 2025
Case

Harvey: AI for Lawyers

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Charles Krumholz and Radhika Kak

In early 2025, Winston Weinberg and Gabe Pereyra, co-founders of Harvey AI, reflected on the company’s meteoric rise as a pioneer in AI-powered legal technology. Since its founding in 2022, Harvey had transformed how lawyers approached research, drafting, and document... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Business Startups; AI and Machine Learning; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Legal Services Industry; Technology Industry; New York (city, NY); San Francisco; London

27 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 27

PublicationsThe Founder's Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup Authors:Noam Wasserman Publication:The Kauffman Foundation Series on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Princeton University Press, in... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

13 May 2014
First Look

First Look: May 13

Publications August 2013 Harvard Business Review From Purpose to Impact: Figure Out Your Passion and Put It to Work By: Craig, Nick, and Scott Snook Abstract—We offer opinions on leadership. A need is seen for executives to have a strong belief in the purpose of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2020
Supplement

Shellye Archambeau: Becoming a CEO (B)

By: Tsedal Neeley and Briana Richardson

With the economy in a freefall, MetricStream is losing customers, hemorrhaging cash and struggling to make payroll. Several board members are threatening to quit. Others are pressing to sell the company even at dismally low valuations. It’s 2008 and lightning has... View Details

Keywords: Race; Gender; Leadership Style; Risk and Uncertainty; Change; Prejudice and Bias; Decision Making; Personal Development and Career; Technology Industry; California

April 2009 (Revised December 2015)
Case

Dot.com: Online Pet Retailing

By: Tom Nicholas and David Chen

From 1995 to 1999, the U.S. experienced a period of tremendous growth in its information technology (IT) sector. The IT industry, although it accounted for less than 10% of the U.S. economy's total output, contributed disproportionately to economic growth. One market... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Price Bubble; Growth and Development Strategy; Failure; Competitive Strategy; Online Technology; Retail Industry