Entrepreneurial Management

- 2025
- Working Paper
Navigating Choppy Waters: How U.S. Trade Policy Uncertainty Affects Small Businesses

By: David Atkin, Zoë Cullen and Ebehi Iyoha

This paper explores the impact of recent changes in the US trade policy environment on small businesses. Drawing on a survey of more than 4,000 small businesses conducted between March 22 and 31, 2025, we examine firms’ knowledge, expectations, and decisions during a period of substantial trade policy uncertainty. Our findings reveal widespread knowledge gaps about current tariffs, even among internationally exposed firms. Most businesses expect continued policy uncertainty throughout 2025, anticipate reduced sales and increased costs, face limited options for mitigating tariff-induced cost increases, and do not expect government assistance in facilitating adaptation. These results highlight the vulnerability of small businesses, which represent a significant share of US economic activity, to rapid trade policy changes and suggest the need for clear policy communication and targeted support mechanisms.
- 2025
- Working Paper
Navigating Choppy Waters: How U.S. Trade Policy Uncertainty Affects Small Businesses

By: David Atkin, Zoë Cullen and Ebehi Iyoha

This paper explores the impact of recent changes in the US trade policy environment on small businesses. Drawing on a survey of more than 4,000 small businesses conducted between March 22 and 31, 2025, we examine firms’ knowledge, expectations, and decisions during a period of substantial trade policy uncertainty. Our findings reveal widespread...
- March–April 2025
- Article
Getting Value from Digital Technologies

By: Frank Cespedes and Georg Krentzel

Companies need digital technologies in an omni-channel buying world where online and in-person interactions are complements, not either/or substitutes. Multi-channel hybrid sales solutions are required, but what are the key requirements for using the available technology for competitive advantage, rather than another cost of doing business? Based on work with companies, we see lessons from firms dealing with a humble but pervasive retail outlet: convenience stores and small eating/drinking venues. The U.S. has one such outlet for every 2,200 people, and 8 of 10 Americans visit weekly one or more of 150,000 convenience stores. The channel is even more important in other countries. In Mexico there are 800,000 outlets (1 for every 160 people), and in Europe the ratios are similar (e.g., Italy has about 350,000 small restaurants, bars, and hotels). This is a fragmented and high cost-to-serve channel, but for CPG (consumer packaged goods) companies these outlets generate up to 50% of their revenue in many countries. Sales productivity is key here, and this article discusses three required capabilities and examples of each: understanding the role of channel partners in the consumer buying journey and your sales approach; using timely data for relevant insights and overcoming common barriers to getting that data; and managing ecosystem changes and trade-offs.
- March–April 2025
- Article
Getting Value from Digital Technologies

By: Frank Cespedes and Georg Krentzel

Companies need digital technologies in an omni-channel buying world where online and in-person interactions are complements, not either/or substitutes. Multi-channel hybrid sales solutions are required, but what are the key requirements for using the available technology for competitive advantage, rather than another cost of doing business? Based...
- March 2025
- Case
Mobvoi’s Path Through Market Challenges and Business Reinvention

By: Paul A. Gompers and Shu Lin

Founded in 2012, Mobvoi evolved through multiple transformations—from AI-driven voice technology to smart wearables and later AI-generated content. Backed by major investors, the company navigated shifts in strategy while facing two failed IPO attempts. As market conditions shifted and funding dried up, founder Zhifei Li faced a critical decision—should Mobvoi attempt another IPO or chart a different course for its future?
- March 2025
- Case
Mobvoi’s Path Through Market Challenges and Business Reinvention

By: Paul A. Gompers and Shu Lin

Founded in 2012, Mobvoi evolved through multiple transformations—from AI-driven voice technology to smart wearables and later AI-generated content. Backed by major investors, the company navigated shifts in strategy while facing two failed IPO attempts. As market conditions shifted and funding dried up, founder Zhifei Li faced a critical...

About the Unit

The Entrepreneurial Management Unit strives to raise the level of academic work in the field of entrepreneurship, in methodological rigor, conceptual depth, and managerial applicability. We also strive to improve the odds of entrepreneurial success for our students and for practitioners worldwide.

Because it is such a complex phenomenon, entrepreneurship must be studied through multiple lenses. We use three.

The process of entrepreneurship - We seek to understand the processes of entrepreneurial activity in start-ups and established firms by examining the antecedents and consequences of various forms of entrepreneurial opportunity identification and opportunity pursuit for individuals, organizations, and industries. We see experimentation and innovation in products, services, processes, and business models as central to entrepreneurial activity.
The finance of entrepreneurship - We seek to understand the financing of entrepreneurial ventures by studying the antecedents and consequences of entrepreneurial funding decisions both domestically and internationally.
The context of entrepreneurship - We seek to understand the ways in which entrepreneurs both respond to and shape the context in which they operate, by examining the history of entrepreneurship across time and national borders and by analyzing the legal and cultural contexts for managerial action.

Please also visit the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship.

Recent Publications

Navigating Choppy Waters: How U.S. Trade Policy Uncertainty Affects Small Businesses

By: David Atkin, Zoë Cullen and Ebehi Iyoha

2025 |
Working Paper |
Faculty Research

This paper explores the impact of recent changes in the US trade policy environment on small businesses. Drawing on a survey of more than 4,000 small businesses conducted between March 22 and 31, 2025, we examine firms’ knowledge, expectations, and decisions during a period of substantial trade policy uncertainty. Our findings reveal widespread knowledge gaps about current tariffs, even among internationally exposed firms. Most businesses expect continued policy uncertainty throughout 2025, anticipate reduced sales and increased costs, face limited options for mitigating tariff-induced cost increases, and do not expect government assistance in facilitating adaptation. These results highlight the vulnerability of small businesses, which represent a significant share of US economic activity, to rapid trade policy changes and suggest the need for clear policy communication and targeted support mechanisms.

Citation

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Governors Reshaping Workforce Development: Turning WIOA Challenges into Workforce Solutions

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Kerry McKittrick, Nathalie Gazzaneo, Ariel Higuchi, Justine Gluck, Zoe Butler, Jack Porter and Malena Dailey

2025 |
White Paper |
Faculty Research

Citation

Getting Value from Digital Technologies

By: Frank Cespedes and Georg Krentzel

March–April 2025 |
Article |
European Business Review

Companies need digital technologies in an omni-channel buying world where online and in-person interactions are complements, not either/or substitutes. Multi-channel hybrid sales solutions are required, but what are the key requirements for using the available technology for competitive advantage, rather than another cost of doing business? Based on work with companies, we see lessons from firms dealing with a humble but pervasive retail outlet: convenience stores and small eating/drinking venues. The U.S. has one such outlet for every 2,200 people, and 8 of 10 Americans visit weekly one or more of 150,000 convenience stores. The channel is even more important in other countries. In Mexico there are 800,000 outlets (1 for every 160 people), and in Europe the ratios are similar (e.g., Italy has about 350,000 small restaurants, bars, and hotels). This is a fragmented and high cost-to-serve channel, but for CPG (consumer packaged goods) companies these outlets generate up to 50% of their revenue in many countries. Sales productivity is key here, and this article discusses three required capabilities and examples of each: understanding the role of channel partners in the consumer buying journey and your sales approach; using timely data for relevant insights and overcoming common barriers to getting that data; and managing ecosystem changes and trade-offs.

Keywords: Sales; Technology Adoption; Competitive Advantage

Citation

Read Now

Mobvoi’s Path Through Market Challenges and Business Reinvention

By: Paul A. Gompers and Shu Lin

March 2025 |
Case |
Faculty Research

Founded in 2012, Mobvoi evolved through multiple transformations—from AI-driven voice technology to smart wearables and later AI-generated content. Backed by major investors, the company navigated shifts in strategy while facing two failed IPO attempts. As market conditions shifted and funding dried up, founder Zhifei Li faced a critical decision—should Mobvoi attempt another IPO or chart a different course for its future?

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Industry; China

Citation

Educators

Niramai: An AI Solution to Save Lives

By: Rembrand Koning, Maria P. Roche and Kairavi Dey

March 2025 |
Case |
Faculty Research

Founded in 2017, Niramai developed Thermalytix, a breast cancer screening tool. Thermalytix used a high-resolution thermal sensing device and machine learning algorithms to analyze thermal images and detect tumors. Its patented solution leveraged big data analytics, AI, and ML for reliable, early, and accurate breast cancer screening. Early clinical trials showed that the solution was equal to or, in some instances, more accurate than mammography available in India. The team was elated that they had developed an effective, low-cost, easier-to-use, non-invasive, and less painful solution for patients. As Manjunath considered the next phase of Niramai’s growth, she wondered if it was time to raise another round of funds and conduct a new, comprehensive clinical study. Should the trial be conducted in the U.S., where it would be significantly more expensive but with the possibility of an exponentially higher payout if the trials were successful? Or should they raise a smaller round now, do a larger trial in a populous developing country such as Indonesia, and focus on lower-to-middle-income countries?

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Adoption; Health Care and Treatment; Technology Industry; Health Industry; Asia; India; South Asia

Citation

Educators

NEAR Protocol: Self-Sovereignty in the Age of AI

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Liang Wu and Mahesh Ramakrishnan

March 2025 |
Case |
Faculty Research

Citation

Educators

Private Equity and Workers: Modeling and Measuring Monopsony, Reallocation, and Trust

By: Kyle Herkenhoff, Josh Lerner, Gordon M. Phillips, Francisca Rebelo and Benjamin Sampson

2025 |
Working Paper |
Faculty Research

We measure the real effects of private equity buyouts on worker outcomes by building a new database that links transactions to matched employer-employee data in the United States. To guide our empirical analysis, we derive testable implications from three theories in which private equity managers alter worker outcomes: (1) exertion of monopsony power, (2) breach of trust of implicit contracts with workers, and (3) efficient reallocation of workers across plants. We do not find any evidence that private equity-backed firms vary wages and employment based on local labor market power proxies. Moreover, layoffs and wage losses are very similar across occupation and employee characteristics, suggesting a rejection of the breach of trust hypothesis. We find strong evidence that private equity managers downsize less productive plants relative to productive plants while simultaneously reallocating high-wage workers to more productive plants. We conclude that post-buyout employment and wage dynamics are consistent with professional investors providing incentives to increase productivity and monitor the companies in which they invest.

Keywords: Monopsony; Market Power; Productivity; Private Equity; Employment; Wages; Employees

Citation

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Wasabi Technologies (B)

By: Lou Shipley and Stacy Straaberg

March 2025 |
Supplement |
Faculty Research

Set in 2019, the “Wasabi Technologies (A)” case centers on Wasabi Technologies (Wasabi), a successful hot cloud storage company based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founder and CEO David Friend is ready to scale the four-year-old venture rapidly. Wasabi had so far focused on direct sales, but an opportunity to pivot to channel sales was on the horizon. The company's major competitors—Amazon, Google, and Microsoft—all sold their cloud storage products through multiple channels, and Friend feared that direct sales could never provide the momentum Wasabi needed to compete. However, channel sales would include changing Wasabi’s sales, marketing, and staffing strategies dramatically—effectively veering the company away from its already successful course. Was channel sales the right play for the burgeoning cloud storage provider? If so, how should Friend go about it? The “Wasabi Technologies (B)” case is set in 2024 after Wasabi has successfully established a channel sales program. Now, an opportunity exists to augment the company’s go-to-market strategy to include original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agreements with third-party vendors. OEM sales, like channel sales, could further Wasabi’s reach in its target markets, but involved tradeoffs such as giving up more margin and risking channel conflict with direct sales and channel sales staff. The case explores what choice to make, and why.

Keywords: Information Management; Sales; Product Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry; United States; Massachusetts; Boston

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