Publications

December 2018 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Husk Power: Scaling the Venture

By: Benjamin N. Roth, Joseph B. Lassiter III and Natalia Rigol

In January 2018, Manoj Sinha—founder and CEO of Husk Power—was contemplating raising $20 million to scale operations for a second time. From 2007 through 2013, Husk built 80 biomass waste plants that provided electricity to 250,000 villagers and shop owners spread... View Details

Keywords: Scaling; Energy; Entrepreneurship; Emerging Markets; Growth and Development Strategy; Energy Industry; India

Web

Scaling Technology Ventures - Course Catalog

HBS Course Catalog Scaling Technology Ventures Course Number 1788 Senior Lecturer Jeffrey Rayport Spring; Q3Q4; 3.0 credits 27 Sessions Exam or Project Career Focus View Details

June 2024 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Driving Scale with Otto

By: Rebecca Karp, David Allen and Annelena Lobb

This case asks how startup founders make scaling decisions in light of their priorities for their business and for themselves. Otto was a technology company that applied artificial intelligence technology to sales. It deployed natural language processing to find sales... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Natural Language Processing; B2B; B2B Innovation; Scaling; Scaling Tech Ventures; Business Startups; AI and Machine Learning; Finance; Sales; Business Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Information Technology Industry; United States; Cambridge; New York (city, NY); Spain

12:30 PM – 2:30 PM EDT, 30 Apr 2019
HBS Online

HBS Online Scaling Ventures

Scaling Ventures is for startup founders and senior leaders who have achieved product-market fit and now need to successfully guide their company through cycles of rapid growth and organizational change. Program Dates: April 30, 2019 - June 18, 2019 (Every Tuesday from... View Details

June 2025
Case

Scale AI Scales Up

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

Scale AI, the data labeling and AI infrastructure company, had grown rapidly since it was founded in 2016; however, as Scale’s generative AI business was taking off, Alexandr Wang, Scale’s founder and CEO, became concerned that Scale was slowing down. Wang and the... View Details

Keywords: Technology And Innovation Management; Entrepreneur; Managing Growth; Hiring; Generative Ai; Data Labeling; Scale; AI and Machine Learning; Entrepreneurship; Talent and Talent Management; Growth Management; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Business Startups; Selection and Staffing; Technology Industry; United States

Teaching Interest

Launching Technology Ventures

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

This course takes the perspective of founders struggling to achieve product market fit in their early-stage startups. Our cases focus on founder decision during this search and discovery phase, both in the experiments that they design and run as well as the... View Details

Launching Technology Ventures

Launching Technology Ventures (LTV) is an MBA elective designed for students who will join startups, launch their own companies, or work in established firms launching information technology products, in particular, new... View Details

January 2014
Case

Entrepreneurial Finance Lab: Scaling an Innovative Start-up Financing Venture

By: Joan Farre-Mensa, William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

EFL provides credit-scoring services in developing countries using psychometric assessment, but the potential loss of a large customer makes them reconsider their scaling narrative. View Details

Keywords: Finance; Developing Countries; Lending; Psychometrics; Scaling; Entrepreneurship; Credit; Developing Countries and Economies; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; Africa; Latin America

March 2024 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Darktrace: Scaling Cybersecurity and AI (A)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Alexis Lefort

In 2023, Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson was contemplating her growth strategy at a leading U.K.-based cybersecurity venture, launched in 2013 by a group of anti-terror cyber specialists, University of Cambridge mathematicians, and artificial intelligence (AI) experts.... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Talent; Scaling; Entrepreneurship; Cybersecurity; Leadership; Business Growth and Maturation; Recruitment; Resignation and Termination; AI and Machine Learning; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Going Public; Technology Industry; United Kingdom; Europe; United States

Using a learning-by-doing approach, student teams will work on their own venture concepts in this intensive immersion course. The course will convey concepts and builds skills required in early stage technology... View Details

January 2018
Case

Scaling Swagbucks (A)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Matthew G. Preble

In early 2014, Chuck Davis (HBS '86) has joined Swagbucks as its first professional CEO to scale a successful and profitable brand promotion and consumer research business. Davis came into the job while serving as a venture partner at TCV, a growth stage VC firm,... View Details

Keywords: Loyalty Management; Scaling; Scale; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Leading Change; Growth Management; Religion; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Transition; Leadership; Technology Industry; Technology Industry

January 2018
Supplement

Scaling Swagbucks (B)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Matthew G. Preble

“Swagbucks (B),” HBS No. 817123, picks up in mid-2014 following the events described in “Swagbucks (A),” HBS No 817122. Davis and Gorowitz were successful in their efforts to position the company for scale without negatively affecting the company’s foundational... View Details

Keywords: Loyalty Management; Scaling; Scale; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Leading Change; Growth Management; Religion; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Transition; Leadership; Technology Industry; Technology Industry

November 2021 (Revised March 2022)
Teaching Note

Husk Power: Scaling the Venture

By: Benjamin N. Roth and Natalia Rigol

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 819-069. View Details

October 2016 (Revised July 2018)
Case

CLHS: Scaling a New Venture

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Gabriele Piccoli and Joaquin Rodriguez

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

October 2016
Teaching Note

CLHS: Scaling a New Venture

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Gabriele Piccoli and Joaquin Rodriguez

Teaching Note for HBS No. 817-053. View Details