Publications

May 2004 (Revised May 2006)
Case

AsiaInfo: The IPO Decision

The cofounder and CEO of AsiaInfo, a Chinese system integrator that built 70% of China's Internet backbone, must decide whether to list equity in the United States to fund future growth. Describes the company and the decision. A rewritten version of a previous case. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Initial Public Offering; Growth Management; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Equity; Information Technology Industry; China; United States

November 1999 (Revised June 2000)
Case

VerticalNet (www.verticalnet.com)

By: Das Narayandas

VerticalNet, a leading creator of targeted business-to-business vertical trade communities on the Internet, is trying to expand its model to facilitate e-commerce. Mark Walsh, the CEO of VerticalNet, has to decide how far he can extend the firm's business model without... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decisions; Digital Platforms; Expansion; Internet and the Web

28 Jul 2009
Research Event

Business Summit: Real Estate

Editor's Note: This is a summary of an HBS Business Summit presentation. View a full summary and video of the event on the HBS Centennial Web site linked below. Date of Event: October 14, 2008 Moderator: Howard H. Stevenson, HBS Faculty... View Details

Keywords: Re: Howard H. Stevenson; Construction; Real Estate

Fast Answer

Industries: financial analytical data and tools

not only a comparative analysis of a group of companies, but of entire industries overall as well. A note about free financial portals on the web: At most financial firms the financials from free Web sites such as yahoo.finance.com and... View Details

25 Aug 2022
News

Research Brief: Paying the Price for Remote Work

Alberto Cavallo’s paper, “The International Price of Remote Work.” Using a data set from 2019 to 2021 from one of the largest web platforms, Cavallo and coauthors Agostina Brinatti, Javier Cravino, and Andres Drenik found that a country’s... View Details

Keywords: Jill Radsken; Market Research, Photo, Translation, Veterinary and Other Services; Professional Services

01 Jun 2004
News

Letters

Fantastic Photos The photo galleries from Iraq and Afghanistan on the Bulletin Web site are fantastic. They portray both the beauty and the ugliness of these countries and put a familiar face on those who serve us during this war. Thank... View Details

Keywords: letters; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

July 2000 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Petstore.com

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Petstore.com is one of four contenders for leadership in the highly competitive online pet supply business. Petstore.com faces decisions regarding potential merger partners and how to brand its service within the website managed by its ultimate merger partner,... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Internet and the Web; Mergers and Acquisitions; Partners and Partnerships; Internet and the Web; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Retail Industry

October 1999 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Autobytel.com

By: Youngme E. Moon

Autobytel enjoys first-mover advantage in the Internet new car buying space. According to a number of metrics, it is the online leader in this category. However, a number of competitors have sprung up, raising questions about the long-term viability of Autobytel's... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Marketing Channels; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Competition; Business Model; Service Operations; Budgets and Budgeting; Growth and Development; Auto Industry

February 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Case

AptDeco: Circular Economy Furniture Marketplace

By: Ayelet Israeli and Jamie Merkrebs

AptDeco, a used furniture marketplace, was growing rapidly in the tri-state area. The co-founders were confident that the business model, financial position, and unit economics positioned AptDeco for scaling in the massive $120 billion furniture market, despite its... View Details

February 2022
Teaching Note

AptDeco: Circular Economy Furniture Marketplace

By: Ayelet Israeli

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 521-069. AptDeco, a used furniture marketplace, was growing rapidly in the tri-state area. The co-founders were confident that the business model, financial position, and unit economics positioned AptDeco for scaling in the massive $120... View Details

Keywords: E-Commerce Strategy; Mobile; Word-of-Mouth; Word Of Mouth; Word-of-mouth Marketing; Internet Marketing; Growth Strategy; Platform; Platforms; Two Sided Markets; Two-sided Market; Two-sided Marketplace; Two-Sided Markets; Two-sided Network; Black Entrepreneurs; Black Leadership; African Americans; African-American Protagonist; Circular; Peer-to-peer Markets; Furniture Industry; Growth Hacking; Monetization Strategy; Growth Management; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Marketing Channels; Digital Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Acquisition; Retention; Growth and Development Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Expansion; Brands and Branding; E-commerce; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; North America; New York (city, NY); New York (state, US)

10 Jul 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: It’s a Bad Idea to Ban Customers From Recording Videos

published an “electronic devices policy” on a little-noticed page on its website—but that policy did nothing to help the airline prevent or resolve the Dao situation. First, one might question whether that policy is in fact binding as a matter of law. By all... View Details

Keywords: by Benjamin G. Edelman; Food & Beverage; Air Transportation; Retail; Service

24 Mar 2002
Research & Ideas

Are Assets Only for America’s Wealthy?

nature and delivery of the IDA program could be the answer, he says. Rather than administering IDAs through brick-and-mortar channels—banks, paperwork, and more paperwork—why not use technology to speed up, standardize, and improve systems and processes? By using View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

Profile

Jonathan Arena

design challenge: “rethink or reframe education for the 21st century.” Continuing on the design/entrepreneurship track, Jonathan has launched a startup, with a colleague at HBS, called Zeum. Intended to “connect creativity,” Zeum will use the View Details

Fast Answer

Historical and forecasted economic statistics

baseline;">Economist Intelligence Unit:

View Details

01 Dec 2017
News

A Safer—and Speedier—Way to Name Your Startup

employing an engineering team to create a web application that applies natural language processing, machine learning, big data, and data visualization algorithms to make conflicts with trademarked names immediately visual, accessible, and... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

01 Jun 2001
News

Making A Difference: HBS Club of Puget Sound Reaches Out to Young Alumni

of membership and now as club president, Kwiker has worked to build a basic loyalty to the club and to foster connections to the extended HBS community. Her innovations have included more events targeted toward the entire alumni base, young alumni socials, and a club... View Details

Keywords: Elena N. Berg

01 Dec 2003
News

DonorsChoose: Teaming Up with Teachers

appeared last June on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Afterward, so many viewers logged on to the organization’s Web site that it crashed. Once the site was back up, seven hundred New York City teachers posted new project proposals and eight... View Details

Keywords: Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations; Personal Services

November 2016 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Selling on Amazon at Tower Paddle Boards

By: Thales S. Teixeira and David Lopez-Lengowski

By June 2012, Stephan Aarstol felt that he had successfully passed the first critical stage of his ecommerce business. As the founder and CEO of a standup paddleboard (SUP) business, he had built a strong relationship with Asian manufacturers, built a small warehouse... View Details

Keywords: Tower Paddle Boards; Amazon; E-commerce; Online Shopping; Distribution; Internet and the Web; Business Growth and Maturation; Marketing Channels; Distribution Channels; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry

November 2015
Case

Upwork: Reimagining the Future of Work

By: Feng Zhu, Rory McDonald, Marco Iansiti and Aaron Smith

Upwork, the world's largest freelance talent platform, was the result of a merger between the two leading online freelancing companies in 2014, Elance and oDesk. After the merger, the company operated as Elance-oDesk and continued to manage two online... View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Employment; Digital Platforms; Market Transactions; Business Processes; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Job Search