Skype

March 2006 (Revised December 2009)
Compilation

By: Peter A. Coles and Thomas R. Eisenmann

Presents eBay's rationale for its $2.6 billion acquisition in late 2005 of Skype, a fast growing voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) provider. Describes Skype's history, technology, business model, and competition, as well as government regulation of VoIP services. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Communication Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Network Effects; Competitive Strategy; Internet and the Web; Information Infrastructure; Telecommunications Industry

Citation

Purchase

06 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

Updating a Classic: Writing a Great Business Plan

ventures being started in every corner of the globe. These ventures can raise money locally or globally. They can disperse talent in many countries. Take a company like Skype. When I visited Skype several years ago, it had 125 employees... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

16 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

How the Coronavirus Is Already Rewriting the Future of Business

happens. In a short time it’s not possible to do everything, so there are a few things companies can focus on. First, in a remote world, it’s very important to not only communicate synchronously on Skype or Zoom, but asynchronously,... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

02 Feb 2015
Research & Ideas

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

recently ceded the field to Skype by providing unlimited calling for a flat fee with many phone plans. "Essentially, they are saying that this activity no longer has value to consumers, so we can't capture value ourselves," says Teixeira.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

18 Aug 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Business Plan Contest: 15 Years of Building Better Entrepreneurs

met a number of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and came away with "a gut feeling that I could build my own company." So he did, collaborating via Skype with friends located in Israel, Sydney, and Boston and investing $5,000 in what would... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Education

12 Nov 2018
Research & Ideas

'Always On' Isn't Always Best for Team Decision-Making

collaboration encouraged by today’s communication tools like Slack and Skype good or bad for finding the best answer? “I don’t want there to be zero communication, but I do think that transparency and communication do have downsides"... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

19 Sep 2024
Research & Ideas

Global Talent, Local Obstacles: Why Time Zones Matter in Remote Work

and Tommy Pan Fang of Rice University—looked at communication patterns among more than 12,000 employees working for a large multinational corporation across all major time zones. The team studied their Skype messages, emails, phone calls,... View Details