Publications

04 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 4

investors provide a little funding and limited governance to an increased number of startups that they are more likely to abandon, but where initial experiments significantly inform beliefs about the future potential of the venture. This adaptation and related entry... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2021
Article

Can Self-Regulation Save Digital Platforms?

By: Michael A. Cusumano, Annabelle Gawer and David B. Yoffie

This article explores some of the critical challenges facing self-regulation and the regulatory environment for digital platforms. We examine several historical examples of firms and industries that attempted self-regulation before the Internet. All dealt with similar... View Details

Keywords: Self-regulation; Government Regulation; Digital Platforms; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

13 Oct 2010
First Look

First Look: October 13, 2010

to each strategy. By "inviting in the lions" to critique your idea—and being prepared for them—you'll capture busy people's attention, help them grasp your proposal's value, and secure their commitment to implementing the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

19 Feb 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 19, 2019

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55632 forthcoming Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes Active Choice, Implicit Defaults, and the Incentive to Choose By: Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2021
Case

Roku 2021

By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

This case is used to explore the strategic concept of "look forward, reason back." Roku in 2021 is trying to figure out the future of television and streaming media. Students are asked to provide a vision for television and streaming media (that is, Look Forward) by... View Details

Keywords: Television Entertainment; Forecasting and Prediction; Decision Choices and Conditions; Strategy; Strategic Planning; Media and Broadcasting Industry

September 2008 (Revised August 2009)
Case

VMware, Inc., 2008

By: David B. Yoffie, Andrei Hagiu and Michael Slind

Paul Maritz took the helm of VMware in July 2008, just as the company confronted a radically new competitive environment. Since its founding in 1998, VMware had been the leading provider of virtualization software. Now it faced the kind of threat that every software... View Details

Keywords: History; Digital Platforms; Competition; Decision Choices and Conditions; Applications and Software; Business Strategy

March 2011 (Revised April 2018)
Case

1366 Technologies: Scaling the Venture

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Ramana Nanda, David Kiron and Evan Richardson

For some time, 1366's co-founders, Frank van Mierlo and Ely Sachs, had faced a choice, which was now made all the more stark: 1366 could expand to produce silicon wafers itself, raising the required capital from "friendly" investors and building shipment volume slowly,... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Innovation Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Intellectual Property; Management Teams; Renewable Energy; Financial Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Finance; Energy Industry; Technology Industry; United States

June 2009 (Revised November 2010)
Case

HTC Corp. in 2009

By: David B. Yoffie and Renee Kim

Taiwan-based HTC Corp. had emerged as the world's fourth largest smartphone manufacturer by 2009. CEO Peter Chou was extremely proud of the remarkable achievements his company had made over the last 12 years since starting off as an unknown manufacturer of PDAs for... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Competitive Advantage; Mobile Technology; Telecommunications Industry; Taiwan

September 2006 (Revised September 2007)
Case

VMware, Inc. (A)

By: David B. Yoffie, Ward Bullard, Nikhil Raj and Suja Vaidyanathan

VMware, Inc., the first company to crack the software virtualization market, faces new challenges from competitors' plans to bundle free virtualization solutions in operating systems. VMware, acquired by data storage giant EMC Corp. in 2003, has delivered top-line... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Open Source Distribution; Competition

19 Feb 2013
First Look

First Look: Feb. 19

B. Yoffie Publication:Journal of Economic Perspectives Abstract The patent market consists mainly of privately negotiated, bilateral transactions, either sales or cross-licenses, between large companies.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

26 Feb 2013
First Look

First Look: Feb. 26

government intervention persists as the biggest threat to private minority shareholders in these firms. Download the paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2217627 Cases & Course MaterialsOcean Mist Farms Bell, David E., Jose View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2007 (Revised December 2007)
Case

TiVo 2007: DVRs and Beyond

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind

Tom Rogers, CEO of TiVo, had placed multiple strategic bets on his company. In September 2007, that strategy was due for a major test. TiVo was a maker of digital video recorder (DVR) products and a distributor of DVR technology. Rogers believed that macro-trends in... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Business Model; Television Entertainment; Intellectual Property; Lawsuits and Litigation; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Distribution; Problems and Challenges; Partners and Partnerships; Research; Internet; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

01 Mar 2011
First Look

First Look: March 1

extensions are discussed, including retail settings where firms carry multiple product categories, shipping and handling costs, and the role of store assistance in impacting consumer perceived benefits. The Short Life of Online Sales Leads Authors:James View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2004 (Revised March 2005)
Case

Music Downloads

By: David B. Yoffie and Deborah Freier

Examines the competition between competing music formats. In the '90s, the MP3 format challenged the traditional means of music distribution by allowing for storage of near CD-quality recordings at 1/10th of their previous size. The threat to traditional distribution... View Details

Keywords: Disruption; Music Entertainment; Legal Liability; Distribution; Competition; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption; Information Infrastructure; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Music Industry