Publications

Web

HBS - The year in Review

college or university. This year's group of 17 Fellows included students from Wellesley College, Princeton University, Carleton College, and Georgia Institute of Technology. New Venture Competition hosts 24th contest Led by the Arthur... View Details

Melody Koh

was a Product Manager at Fab.com leading marketing & analytics products and the founder/CEO of a seed-funded wine subscription e-commerce service. Melody was also a venture investor at Time Warner’s strategic VC group and was one of six... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital

13 Sep 2021
Research & Ideas

Science: The Unlikely Frontier for New Business Ideas

opportunity for the investment pendulum to swing from fast-money ventures to slower, potentially more rewarding endeavors. “If you are willing dive into the frontier of scientific journal articles, the rewards of science-based innovation... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

30 Jun 2021
In Practice

The Harvard Business School Faculty Summer Reader 2021

What’s on HBS faculty members’ reading list for summer 2021? Which books are most meaningful to them and why? Below, faculty share their top picks, ranging from biographies and memoirs to their colleagues’ latest works. Julia Austin: Social justice and the Obamas I... View Details

Keywords: by Kathryn Haviland

Web

Frequently Asked Questions | HBS Online

Entrepreneurship Essentials Entrepreneurial Marketing Financial Accounting Sample Business Lessons Global Business Harvard Online Courses Launching Tech Ventures Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability Leading Change and... View Details

11 Jul 2019
Blog Post

Meet the MBA Class of 2020

View Video Andrew Baxter “YOU BUILD UP PERSONAL CAPITAL BY SHARING COMMON EXPERIENCES.” HOME REGION St. Andrews, UK UNDERGRAD EDUCATION Imperial College London, Chemical Engineering, 2011 PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE Shell, Schlumberger HBS... View Details

November 2017
Teaching Note

Amazon.com, 2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-402. On January 28, 2016, Amazon announced record 2015 operating profits of $2.2 billion on $107 billion of sales, and the markets responded with cautious optimism. For years, founder and CEO Jeffrey Bezos had prioritized growth and... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Market Platforms; Two-Sided Platforms; Competition; Internet; Corporate Strategy; Online Advertising; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Hardware; Information Technology; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Technology Networks; Technology Platform; Web; Web Sites; Price; Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle

March 2021 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Hotwire.com: Navigating Through Turbulence

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Manny de Zarraga and Eric Levine

On September 10, 2001, after speaking at an industry conference at New York’s World Trade Center, Hotwire co-founder Spencer Rascoff boarded a flight from Newark to San Francisco. After returning home, Rascoff awoke the next morning to a phone call informing him that... View Details

Keywords: September 11; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Disruption; Decisions; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Growth Management; Digital Platforms; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Expansion; Internet and the Web; Leading Change; Leadership Style; Air Transportation Industry; Tourism Industry; San Francisco

July 2020
Case

Amanda and Kristen: Mented Cosmetics

By: Steven Rogers, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Alterrell Mills

The co-founders (Black HBS alumnae) of an e-commerce beauty startup explore the unmet needs within the beauty industry. This case study examines the entrepreneurial opportunities that come from identifying an underserved market, specifically within the Black community... View Details

09 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Why Entrepreneurs Should Go Work for Government

developed an on-demand bus service for routes underserved by public transportation. The innovations are happening at a scale large enough to even attract venture capital investment, despite past VC... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

27 Sep 2021
Blog Post

Working to Change the Food System

internships in venture capital and at an ag-tech (agricultural technology) startup before school, I saw how unsuccessful commercialization was often a key barrier to large-scale deployments of new scientific... View Details

Career Coach

Dan Mindus

Dan (Yale '01, HBS '08) is Founder and Managing Partner at NextGen Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm with $200M+ in assets under management. NextGen has a... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Venture Capital; Venture Capital

Web

2024 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

shape work in years to come. After the Boom and the Bust What’s Next for Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship? Professor Professor Josh Lerner (PMD 62) + More Info - Slides – Less Info - Slides View Details

01 Jun 2024
News

Firm Foundation

few investors were operators, and vice versa. “There’s not often a lot of respect or a lot of switching of skills in that space,” she says. “And yet, you’ve seen the power of it in venture.” Startup founders routinely go into venture... View Details

Keywords: Janelle Nanos; private equity; Warren Buffett; career path; investment strategy; family business; Finance

March 2022 (Revised May 2022)
Case

Winning Business at Russell Reynolds (A)

By: Ethan Bernstein and Cara Mazzucco

In an effort to make compensation drive collaboration, Russell Reynolds Associates’ (RRA) CEO Clarke Murphy sought to re-engineer the bonus system for his executive search consultants in 2016. As his HR analytics guru, Kelly Smith, points out, that risks upsetting–and... View Details

August 2023
Case

Beamery: Using Skills and AI to Modernize HR

By: Boris Groysberg, Alexis Lefort, Susan Pinckney and Carolina Bartunek

Unicorn human relationships startup Beamery evaluates it's growth versus depth strategy as its strategic partners and customers could become future competitors in a quickly changing AI based human resources and talent management industry View Details

September 2021 (Revised December 2023)
Case

On the Bubble: Startup Bootstrapping

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Tom Quinn and Annelena Lobb

Bubble was a software company in the low-code/no-code market, making tools that allowed users without traditional programming backgrounds or technical skills to build software. The case covers cofounder Joshua Haas’s engineering background, as he experienced a high... View Details

February 2020
Case

Leading Change in Talent at L'Oréal

By: Lakshmi Ramarajan, Vincent Dessain and Emer Moloney

Jean-Claude Le Grand just stepped into a new role as Executive Vice-President for Human Resources at the global cosmetics company, L’Oréal. He is now responsible for the hiring, development, promotion, and retention of 83,000 employees worldwide. The highly successful... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Business Headquarters; Business Divisions; Business Organization; Change; Change Management; Transformation; Competency and Skills; Experience and Expertise; Talent and Talent Management; Demographics; Diversity; Gender; Nationality; Multinational Firms and Management; Human Resources; Employees; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Innovation and Management; Jobs and Positions; Employment; Human Capital; Leadership; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Management Practices and Processes; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Product Marketing; Organizations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Personal Development and Career; Planning; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Networks; Social Psychology; Attitudes; Power and Influence; Social and Collaborative Networks; Business Strategy; Advertising Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; France; Paris