Publications

November 1996 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Vallourec's Venture into Metal Injection Molding

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Vallourec, a leading maker of seamless tubing, developed a radically new technology that used steel powders to create the tubes. To ensure a supply source, Vallourec ultimately had to acquire its supplier of metal powder, and then, to build the volume required to... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Business Model; Diversification; Innovation and Management; Manufacturing Industry

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01 Mar 2006
News

Venture Capital, Post-Dot Bomb

At Cyberposium, a student-run technology conference held last November at the School, HBS professor Bill Sahlman sparked a frank discussion on the current climate for venture capital investing. “In the... View Details

Keywords: Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Finance

October 2012 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Kleiner-Perkins and Genentech: When Venture Capital Met Science

By: Felda Hardymon and Tom Nicholas

Genentech is a rare success story in the biotechnology industry. Hundreds of billions of dollars of venture capital have been invested without the expected transformational effects. Established in 1976, Genentech was to develop the new science of recombinant DNA into... View Details

Keywords: Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Innovation and Invention; Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; Science; Biotechnology Industry; United States

February 2002 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Chengwei Ventures and the hdt* Investment

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Bo Feng, cofounder and principal in Chengwei Ventures, one of the first sovereign venture capital firms in China, is trying to decide on the proper business model for hdt, the product of a merger between two portfolio companies. This case discusses the best way for the... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Relationship Management; Sovereign Finance; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Markets; Business Model; Financial Services Industry; China

16 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

The Unfulfilled Promise of Educational Technology

scheduling their time, the more bang they'll get for their buck. Making Edtech Profitable Investment in education technology has increased dramatically over the past decade, with venture capital firms... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Education

22 Apr 2015
Video

RapidSOS wins 2015 New Venture Competition business track

February 2022
Case

NFX Capital and Moov Technologies

By: Scott Duke Kominers and Nicole Tempest Keller

In July 2019, James Currier, a general partner at San Francisco-based NFX Ventures, was considering a seed stage investment of $1.5 million in Moov Technologies, a B2B marketplace for used industrial equipment. NFX was a venture capital firm focused on seed-stage... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Network Effects; Marketplace Matching; Digital Platforms; Market Design; Applications and Software; Semiconductor Industry; Financial Services Industry; San Francisco

December 1998
Case

Inxight: Incubating a Xerox Technology Spinout

Xerox has established a new spinoff that utilizes software technology developed at its PARC research facility. This spinoff, Inxight Software, is formulating its plans to commercialize PARC's technology via an OEM component business model. View Details

Keywords: Commercialization; Business Subsidiaries; Organizational Structure; Software

June 2023
Supplement

Social Media Background Screening at Fama Technologies (B)

By: Joseph Pacelli, Jillian Grennan and Alexis Lefort

Fama Technologies is an online screening company that uses AI to analyze job applicants' publicly available online content for signs of risk and culture fit. The case opens with Ben Mones, founder and CEO, looking to secure funding from venture firms. He is running... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Organizational Culture; Talent and Talent Management; United States

01 Jun 2017
News

The Exchange: Venture Forth

the IBMs or the RCAs of the world to continue to create innovations and job opportunities. Think about the number of firms that wouldn’t be here and the number of technologies that wouldn’t be here without View Details

Keywords: April White

01 Apr 2001
News

New Ventures New Gains

realities. “In recent years, the student appetite for entrepreneurial ventures has increased significantly,” says HBS professor of management practice Myra M. Hart, who has studied the career trends of HBS graduates. “The contest gives... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna and Susan Young; Martin Dubilier (MBA 1952); Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

20 Apr 2015
News

IBM Venture With Chinese Stirs Concern

26 Jan 2004
Research & Ideas

How Women Can Get More Venture Capital

recently sat down with HBS Working Knowledge to share her latest thinking. Her new book, Clearing the Hurdles, co-written with Candida G. Brush, Nancy M. Carter, Elizabeth Gatewood, and Patricia G. Greene, will be out in May 2004 from Prentice Hall. HBS Working... View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark & Martha Lagace

January 2013 (Revised February 2013)
Case

EverTrue: Mobile Technology Development (A)

By: William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

Brent Grinna is evaluating different options for the technology development of his start-up's iPhone app, including hiring local programmers, finding a CTO, or outsourcing. He only has a little over two months before he presents his alumni networking app to Brown... View Details

Keywords: Start-up; Mobile App; oDesk; Outsourcing; CTO; Minimum Viable Product; App Development; Business Startups; Decisions; Entrepreneurship; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Intellectual Property; Product Development; Globalization; Technology Industry; Massachusetts; Boston; India

November 2001 (Revised October 2004)
Case

IBM Network Technology (A)

By: Michael L. Tushman and Robert C Wood

An unconventional manager within IBM leads the creation of a business unit with multibillion-dollar potential, winning over customers and nudging the organization to make the changes needed to achieve dramatic growth. This case provides an example of how organizational... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Leadership; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Change Management; Management Practices and Processes; Business Plan; Organizational Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Success; Technology Industry

25 May 2015
Blog Post

RapidSOS Wins the HBS New Venture Competition

entrepreneurs-in-residence to refine our business and technology – two years of collaboration and mentorship culminated in six days where we brought in over $200k in funding from the HBS New Venture... View Details

August 1997 (Revised November 1998)
Case

Cambridge Technology Partners - 1991 Start Up

By: Paul A. Gompers and Catherine M. Conneely

Jim Sims tries to close the deal to create Cambridge Technology Partners (CTP) in a spin-out from a troubled technology consulting firm. The deal looks tenuous. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Negotiation Deal; Information Technology; Organizations; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Cambridge

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August 2001
Case

Chrysalis Capital: Venture Capital in an Emerging Market

Examines the founding and early development of an Indian venture capital firm. Focuses on the opportunity in the Indian high-technology sector, how the founders have adapted the U.S. venture capital model to an emerging market context, and the organizational challenges... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Emerging Markets; Technology Industry; India