Publications

18 Jun 2019
News

The Soul of a Start-up

01 Jun 2011
News

Mr. Start-Up

could stray from an assignment to write market assessments and instead create a start-up business plan. “The professor was Walt Salmon, and fortunately he was all for it,” recalls Cassidy, who eventually made good on the plan to launch... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

03 Apr 2013
News

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

09 Apr 2012
News

HBS Prof. Publishes Book on Start-Ups

01 Dec 2010
News

How to Survive Past Start-up

others.” Cenedella recalled the first day he walked into his company and was greeted by an employee he was certain he’d never seen before. Recognizing that leading a company of 200 or 300 people would be a different challenge than leading... View Details

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

23 Feb 2012
News

What Start-Ups Can Teach Big Companies About Service

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

July–August 2023
Article

Case Study: How Should a Start-Up Cut Its Burn Rate?

By: Nitin Nohria, Katie Josephson, Sophia Wronsky and Elizabeth Rha

Tyler Smith, the founder and CEO of the enterprise software firm Puck.io, is facing a hard decision. Just three months earlier the company laid off 20% of its employees to reduce its burn rate amid growing economic uncertainty and a suddenly unattractive funding... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business or Company Management; Business Startups

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18 Mar 2014
Blog Post

BaubleBar Brought to Life, and Other Tales of Joining a Start-up

for future partner prospects. Julia and Katharine agreed that the leadership team is focused on where the company is in terms of its scale. They have 85 employees now, and are looking at internal operations carefully. In fact, both Julia... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technology; Consumer Products / Retail

September 2019 (Revised May 2021)
Case

pymetrics: Early Days

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In 2013, CEO Frida Polli was contemplating the next steps for her start-up business, pymetrics. After receiving her PhD in neuropsychology and MBA from HBS, she was determined to put her scientific and academic knowledge to work to build a business solving real world... View Details

2019
Working Paper

Immigrant Networking and Collaboration: Survey Evidence from CIC

By: Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr

Networking and the giving and receiving of advice outside of one’s own firm are important features of entrepreneurship and innovation. We study how immigrants and natives utilize the potential networking opportunities provided by CIC, formerly known as the Cambridge... View Details

Keywords: Immigrants; Networking; Advice; Entrepreneurs; Inventors; Start-up Employees; Venturing; Co-working; Agglomeration; Immigration; Entrepreneurship; Networks; Innovation and Invention; Social and Collaborative Networks

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2020
Chapter

Immigrant Networking and Collaboration: Survey Evidence from CIC

By: Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr

Networking and the giving and receiving of advice outside of one's own firm are important features of entrepreneurship and innovation. We study how immigrants and natives utilize the potential networking opportunities provided by CIC, formerly known as the Cambridge... View Details

Keywords: Immigrants; Networking; Advice; Entrepreneurs; Inventors; Start-up Employees; Venturing; Co-working; Agglomeration; Immigration; Entrepreneurship; Networks; Innovation and Invention; Social and Collaborative Networks

Read Now

September 2019
Supplement

pymetrics (B)

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In March 2013, pymetrics CEO Frida Polli visited Harvard Business School to listen to a section of MBA students from the class of 2013 discuss her business plan and provide feedback on the tests they had taken to identify career opportunities. Polli had developed a... View Details

Keywords: BrainTech; Hiring; Hiring Of Employees; Recruiting; Personality; Personality Traits; Startup; Start-up; Startups; Start-ups; Employment; Strategic Evolution; Psychodynamics; Psychology; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Business Startups; Strategy; Personal Characteristics

September 2019 (Revised May 2021)
Case

pymetrics: International Expansion

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In August 2018, pymetrics, a solution offering neuroscience-based recruiting tests, closed a $40 million funding round that valued the business at $160 million. Over 60 companies around the globe were using pymetrics tests in their recruiting process, including... View Details

November 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Teaching Note

Social Salary Setting at Spiber

By: Ashley Whillans and John Beshears

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 920-050. The case tells the story of Spiber, a Japanese technology start-up company. To reflect the company’s values, the leadership team implemented a new and unique salary-setting process: each employee had the authority to choose their... View Details

Keywords: Compensation; General Management; Employee Benefits; Incentives; Motivation; Compensation and Benefits; Fairness; Motivation and Incentives; Management; Happiness; Negotiation; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Japan

Research Summary

How and When Does Hierarchy Emerge in Firms?

Despite understanding that formal structure within firms is crucial for maintaining coordination and control as young firms grow, relatively little is systematically known about the initial formation of hierarchy in firms. By exploiting access to a dataset of all... View Details

Keywords: Organization Design; Start-up Growth; Startup Management; Organizational Design; Entrepreneurship; Brazil

October 2014 (Revised June 2015)
Case

Quiet Logistics (A)

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

This two-part case focuses on how to identify and manage strategic uncertainties in an innovative, entrepreneurial start-up company. In the (A) case, students learn about Quiet Logistics, an e-commerce fulfillment company working with high-end apparel retailers such as... View Details

October 2014
Supplement

Quiet Logistics (B)

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

This two-part case focuses on how to identify and manage strategic uncertainties in an innovative, entrepreneurial start-up company. In the (A) case, students learn about Quiet Logistics, an e-commerce fulfillment company working with high-end apparel retailers such as... View Details

October 2000 (Revised October 2000)
Case

3PLex.com

By: Myra M. Hart and Judith Marie Dror

A start-up team is faced with the challenge of building a senior management team with relevant industry experience. The marriage of e-commerce and the transportation logistics industry creates unusual problems in blending "old economy" employees and employee practices... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Executive Compensation; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Organizational Culture; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Technology Adoption; Transportation Industry