Publications

23 Mar 2021
News

Managing Future Growth at an Innovative Workforce Education Start-up

07 Feb 2011
News

Harvard eyes start-ups

25 Feb 2013
Research & Ideas

Lean Strategy Not Just for Start-Ups

Lean start-up strategies aren't just for start-ups anymore. That was the key message that Intuit cofounder Scott Cook (HBS MBA '76) shared in a small seminar with Harvard Business School faculty recently.... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

01 Sep 2010
News

Start-Ups "R" Us

aspirations of the School’s graduates. The inaugural year for the Alumni New Venture Contest attracted more than seventy teams representing HBS Clubs in the United States and abroad. The seven finalists made their start-up pitches to a... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; meta

April 2000 (Revised April 2004)
Case

TixToGo: Financing a Silicon Valley Start-up

Describes TixToGo, a Silicon Valley start-up company that offers online solutions to individuals and organizations that want to offer activities and/or collect registration fees for events over the Internet. A serial entrepreneur and his partner started the company in... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Information Technology; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry; San Francisco

29 Jul 2008
News

An Educational Start-Up

Last week I made the trek to campus to sit in on a case discussion. Sure it’s summer, but the crews who clean blackboards in Aldrich and Hawes are still pretty busy. In fact, we’re all busy, thank you very much. How else would you get your nice, shiny copy of the... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training

13 Dec 2022
Interview

Why Some Start-Ups Fail to Scale

By: Jeffrey Rayport and Curt Nickisch

Managing rapid growth is a huge challenge for young businesses. Even start-ups with glowing reviews and skyrocketing sales can fail. That’s because new ventures and corporate initiatives alike have to sustain profitability at scale, according to Harvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Growth Management; Outcome or Result; Transition

Read Now

10 Oct 2017
News

Finish What You Start-up

Angie Hicks (MBA 2000) is cofounder and CMO of the popular online ratings website Angie’s List. In this interview she reflects on the challenges––and advantages––of starting her company away from Silicon Valley: “Don't take yourself too seriously. I think a lot of... View Details

03 Apr 2013
News

A 4-step guide to landing a start-up job

December 2016 (Revised December 2018)
Case

From Start-Up to Grown-Up Nation: The Future of the Israeli Innovation Ecosystem

By: Elie Ofek and Margot Eiran

In June 2016, Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, wrestled with how to sustain Israel’s strong innovation track record and the country’s reputation as the “startup nation.” Despite the economic miracle the country had wrought since its founding, he... View Details

01 Dec 2010
News

How to Survive Past Start-up

him. They still run the company, and they also manage a household that includes their three children. Execution Is Critical Entrepreneurship is difficult even when the idea is great, the teams are complementary, and conditions seem ideal.... View Details

Keywords: Bill Murphy Jr.; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information; Health and Personal Care Stores; Retail Trade

23 Jul 2018
Blog Post

Summer Snapshot: Interning at a Robotics Start-Up

early stage and stealth mode robotics start-up in the agriculture space as a Business Analysis & Operations Intern. I am the fourth and the only non-technical employee of the company. After working as a View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technology

April 2000 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Infosys: Financing an Indian Software Start-Up

Describes the financing and growth of Infosys, an Indian software start-up. Infosys defies a number of stereotypes about barriers to entrepreneurship in India. The company was founded by a small group of entrepreneurs with little equity and without backing from a large... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Applications and Software; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology Industry; India

January 2007 (Revised December 2008)
Case

The Challenges of Launching a Start-Up in China: Dorm99.com

By: William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan and Tracy Manty

After graduating from Harvard Business School in June 2006, Ken Pao and Bill Li were ready to fully commit to the Internet start-up they had been working on since they first stepped foot on the business school campus. They moved to Beijing, rounded out their management... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Joint Ventures; Entrepreneurship; Product Launch; Business and Government Relations; Internet; China

01 Jun 2012
News

Social Enterprise Start-Ups Recognized for Bold Ideas

Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the developing world, affecting nearly 250 million people worldwide. Yet most can’t afford the blood glucose monitoring needed to manage their condition. For a target group... View Details

Keywords: contests; awards

05 Nov 2013
News

Start-Ups Get a Start in New Orleans

of effort on his part. Wilkins moved to the Crescent City four years ago from Boston with his wife, New Orleans native Ginny Wise, and three sons. Prior to his arrival, he had been a brand manager for Proctor & Gamble, a marketing vice... View Details

Keywords: New Orleans; Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services; Professional Services

21 Jun 2011
News

HBS's Lion of Entrepreneurship on Five Start-up Choices

January 2000 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Staples: A Year in the Life of a Start-Up

By: Myra M. Hart

The case provides information on the development of the office superstore concept, building partnerships, creating the business plan, and recruiting a management team. Focuses on the detailed level of decision making required to transform an idea into a viable... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Recruitment; Management Teams; Integration; Information Technology; Entrepreneurship; Business Plan; Decision Making

January 2002
Article

Organizational Endowments and the Performance of University Start-ups

By: Scott Shane and Toby E. Stuart

The question of how initial resource endowments—the stocks of resources that entrepreneurs contribute to their new ventures at the time of founding—affect organizational life chances is one of significant interest in organizational ecology, evolutionary... View Details

Keywords: Resource Allocation; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Research; Company History; Initial Public Offering; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans