Entrepreneurial Selling - Publications - Faculty & Research

April 2018
Teaching Note

Formlabs: Selling a New 3D Printer

Teaching Note for HBS No. 817-001. Formlabs is a venture that manufactures and sells 3D printers used in a variety of industries and applications. As the young company prepares to ship its latest model, the head of Customer Development is tasked with developing a... View Details

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November 2016 (Revised October 2018)
Case

Formlabs: Selling a New 3D Printer

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Olivia Hull and Amram Migdal

Headquartered in Somerville, Massachusetts, Formlabs manufactures 3D printers used to print everything from prototypes and models to jewelry, dental, and sculpture molds. As Formlabs prepares to ship its latest model, the Form 2, Head of Customer Development and... View Details

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02 Feb 2015
Research & Ideas

Disruptors Sell What Customers Want and Let Competitors Sell What They Don’t

door and ready to be marketed to with more profitable products such as home mortgages. Already, entrepreneurial competitors are pecking around the margins of banking—Paypal offers essentially the equivalent of an online checking account,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

05 Jul 2004
Research & Ideas

Radical Change, Entrepreneurial Opportunity

Mary Tripsas, Assistant Professor in the Entrepreneurial Management unit at Harvard Business School, is interested in how radical technological change transforms industries, and how such change affects established firms and creates View Details

Keywords: by Michael J. Roberts; Technology

January 2017
Teaching Note

Transition at DataCo?

By: Frank V. Cespedes

The founder of a data analytics company has several issues with his key business developer, an early hire who has been instrumental in building the firm. The DataCo case study illustrates a common situation in entrepreneurial ventures: an early sales hire does well but... View Details

Keywords: Sales Management; Selling; Entrepreneurial Ventures; Performance Management; Professional Services; Salesforce Management; Sales; Marketing; Performance; Consulting Industry; United States; France

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November 2018
Case

Yatooq: Longing for Arabic Coffee

By: Mark Roberge, Gamze Yucaoglu and Samer Al-Rachedy

As one of the few female entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia, Lateefa Alwaalan had been trying to produce the perfect cup of Arabic coffee for over a decade. In 2007, she began testing various coffee blends, which she later branded Yatooq, the Arabic word for “craving” or... View Details

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August 2019
Case

The United States and Russia: Gas Rivals in Europe?

By: Rawi Abdelal, Galit Goldstein and Paul Apostolicas

Though the shale revolution transformed the U.S. into the largest producer of petroleum products, it was unclear how much success American exporters would find selling liquefied natural gas on the European energy market. Gazprom, the state-controlled Russian energy... View Details

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09 Jul 2018
Research & Ideas

Overcoming the Challenges of Selling Brand New Technology (Hey, Need a 3-D Printer?)

“Nothing sells itself,” says Frank Cespedes, senior lecturer in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School. “When companies introduce new products, they are offering something that by... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology; Consumer Products; Electronics; Industrial Products; Information Technology; Manufacturing; Medical Devices & Supplies; Retail

March 2016 (Revised June 2017)
Case

Transition at DataCo?

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Carin-Isabel Knoop

The founder of a data analytics company, Stefan Brecht, has several issues with his key business developer and head of marketing and sales, Tamara Smithson. Smithson, an early hire who had been instrumental in building the firm; operates as an individual contributor;... View Details

Keywords: Sales Management; Selling; Entrepreneurial Ventures; Performance Management; Professional Services; Salesforce Management; Sales; Marketing; Performance; Consulting Industry; United States; France

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31 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

From SpinPop to SpinBrush: Entrepreneurial Lessons from John Osher

John Osher is one of those casually and spectacularly successful people who make serial entrepreneurship look like a cakewalk. He began racking up wins at an early age—starting and selling both a vintage clothing store and an earring... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Consumer Products

Research Summary

Overview

By: Shikhar Ghosh

I am focused on exploring the human side of developing early stage entrepreneurial ventures. These enterprises are characterized by the pursuit of opportunity, shortage of resources to pursue their goals and uncertainty at every step of the journey. Some of the... View Details

Keywords: Scale; Exit; Founders' Agreements; Success Measures; Entrepreneurial Risk; Founding Teams; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Europe; Middle East; Asia

February 2013 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Wayne Ferrari: iAutomation at a Crossroads

By: Jim Sharpe and Michael Norris

Wayne Ferrari has bridged the gap between being an independent entrepreneur and a "professional manager." After selling his business to a Private Equity (PE) firm, Ferrari takes on the role of CEO and with their support implements a roll-up strategy to attain growth... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Entrepreneurial Organizations; Leveraged Buyouts; Roll-up; Career Planning; Acquisitions; Pricing; Pricing Policies; Pricing Strategy; Pricing Structure; Acquisition; Entrepreneurship; Private Equity; Distribution; Integration; System; Electronics Industry; Distribution Industry; United States

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January 2017
Supplement

Intrapreneurship at DaVita HealthCare Partners: Cash Flow Tool

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Christopher Payton

DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc. (DaVita) is one of the U.S.'s leading dialysis providers, a process whereby persons with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are connected to a machine that performs the functions of a healthy kidney. Kent Thiry, DaVita's CEO, has expanded... View Details

Keywords: Intrapreneurship; Entrepreneurial Organizations; Startup Management; Startup; Strategic Positioning; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Business Startups; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry; United States

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August 2016 (Revised August 2016)
Teaching Note

Intrapreneurship at DaVita Healthcare Partners

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Matthew Preble

DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc. (DaVita) is one of the U.S.'s leading dialysis providers, a process whereby persons with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are connected to a machine that performs the functions of a healthy kidney. Kent Thiry, DaVita's CEO, has expanded... View Details

Keywords: Intrapreneurship; Entrepreneurial Organizations; Startup Management; Startup; Strategic Positioning; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Business Startups; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry; United States

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February 2017
Case

Yemeksepeti: Growing and Expanding the Business Model through Data

By: William R. Kerr, Gamze Yucaoglu and Eren Kuzucu

In October 2016, Nevzat Aydin, co-founder and CEO of Yemeksepeti, the Turkish online food-ordering company, was looking over the company's quarterly results and projections for the upcoming year with his management team. It had been almost a year and a half since Aydin... View Details

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October 2005 (Revised July 2009)
Case

MD Beauty, Inc.

By: William A. Sahlman and Elizabeth Kind

Describes some of the issues confronting the entrepreneurial team responsible for creating a highly successful natural beauty and skin care company. They are considering selling all or some portion of the company's stock. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Stocks; Financial Strategy; Management Teams; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

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August 1999
Case

Health Resources & Technology

Health Resources & Technology is an entrepreneurial company with aggressive growth goals. The company sells medical-consultation services to insurance carriers that then repackage the service with their health care policies. Founded by two Brigham & Women's Hospital... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Goals and Objectives; Competitive Strategy; Health Care and Treatment; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry

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Teaching Interest

Launching New Ventures—Jump-Starting Innovation for Entrepreneurs and Business Owners (Executive Education)

By: William R. Kerr

Starting up a new venture amid rapid change is fraught with challenges. Whether you are starting a new business, launching a new business line, or building an entrepreneurial culture within a small-to-midsize company, this program provides a new perspective and core... View Details

11 Apr 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Teaching a ‘Lean Startup’ Strategy

doing that, and waste a lot of money on sales and marketing trying to sell that wrong product," says Tom Eisenmann, a professor in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School.... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology; Computer

January 2022 (Revised September 2023)
Case

Simplifyy

By: Paul A. Gompers and Alicia Dadlani

Jake Lisby, co-founder and CEO of Simplifyy, a property technology startup in Kansas City, Missouri, was both exhausted and exhilarated by the flurry of activity surrounding the pivot of the business model in late 2021. Simplifyy, a venture-backed PropTech company, was... View Details