Entrepreneurial Management

- February 2025
- Case
Fly, Fix, Fly at True Anomaly

By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Jim Matheson, Fiona Murray and David Allen

How should companies learn from failure? Founded by four U.S. Space Force warfighters, the tough tech startup True Anomaly wanted to compete with major defense contractors to supply the U.S. Department of Defense with satellites and software that could help protect U.S. interests in the increasingly competitive domain of space. In March 2024, just two years after the company was founded, True Anomaly launched a pair of autonomous orbital vehicles (AOVs) known as Jackals, only to see them fail within minutes of entering orbit. CEO Even Rogers and his leadership team were in a race against time. Needing flight experience before they were due to play their part in a crucial and potentially lucrative Space Force mission in fall 2025, they scrambled to learn what had gone wrong with their first two satellites, and asked themselves whether they should sprint to fly again soon.
- February 2025
- Case
Fly, Fix, Fly at True Anomaly

By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Jim Matheson, Fiona Murray and David Allen

How should companies learn from failure? Founded by four U.S. Space Force warfighters, the tough tech startup True Anomaly wanted to compete with major defense contractors to supply the U.S. Department of Defense with satellites and software that could help protect U.S. interests in the increasingly competitive domain of space. In March 2024, just...
- February 13, 2025
- Article
Research: The Costs of Circumventing Tariffs

By: Jaya Y. Wen, Ebehi Iyoha, Edmund Malesky and Sung-Ju Wu

When tariffs are levied against a specific country, that country might attempt to circumvent the tariff by rerouting products through a third country to avoid the higher taxes. Research in the aftermath of the 2018 U.S.-China trade war examined this phenomenon, finding that, while tariff circumvention through Vietnam did happen, it wasn’t as widespread as many had initially thought. That said, there still was an increase in tariff circumvention more broadly, and specifically via Chinese-owned firms in Vietnam. The findings suggest that if a country is considering implementing tariffs, a better approach might involve ownership-based duties or firm-specific sanctions instead of blanket tariffs.
- February 13, 2025
- Article
Research: The Costs of Circumventing Tariffs

By: Jaya Y. Wen, Ebehi Iyoha, Edmund Malesky and Sung-Ju Wu

When tariffs are levied against a specific country, that country might attempt to circumvent the tariff by rerouting products through a third country to avoid the higher taxes. Research in the aftermath of the 2018 U.S.-China trade war examined this phenomenon, finding that, while tariff circumvention through Vietnam did happen, it wasn’t as...
- February 2025
- Case
Dreaming Big: Calm Considers Spinning Off Its Sleep Experience

By: Sara McKinley Torti
- February 2025
- Case
Dreaming Big: Calm Considers Spinning Off Its Sleep Experience

By: Sara McKinley Torti

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

Influencer-led brand building: Hairitage and the McKnights

By: William R. Kerr and James Palano

February 2025 |
Teaching Note |
Faculty Research

Mindy McKnight started in 2009 as an early influencer on social media whose videos of creative hairstyles for girls launched her family on an entrepreneurship journey. The McKnights transitioned from YouTube ad revenue to brand sponsorships, licensing deals, equity partnerships, and eventually full product ownership. By 2024, McKnight and her twin daughters had built a following of over 40 million on social media and had two successful brands. McKnight had partnered with a product incubator Maesea to launch a line of haircare products, Hairitage, that generated $23 million in sales in 2023. Her daughters had built their own brand of skincare products also offered at Walmart, ITK Skincare. As Hairitage planned to expand into CVS, McKnight faced strategic decisions on sustaining product growth and leveraging the family's influence in a shifting social media landscape.

Citation

Purchase

Fly, Fix, Fly at True Anomaly

By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Jim Matheson, Fiona Murray and David Allen

February 2025 |
Case |
Faculty Research

How should companies learn from failure? Founded by four U.S. Space Force warfighters, the tough tech startup True Anomaly wanted to compete with major defense contractors to supply the U.S. Department of Defense with satellites and software that could help protect U.S. interests in the increasingly competitive domain of space. In March 2024, just two years after the company was founded, True Anomaly launched a pair of autonomous orbital vehicles (AOVs) known as Jackals, only to see them fail within minutes of entering orbit. CEO Even Rogers and his leadership team were in a race against time. Needing flight experience before they were due to play their part in a crucial and potentially lucrative Space Force mission in fall 2025, they scrambled to learn what had gone wrong with their first two satellites, and asked themselves whether they should sprint to fly again soon.

Keywords: Business Startups; Engineering; National Security; Digital Platforms; Failure; Problems and Challenges; Business and Government Relations; War; Aerospace Industry; United States; Colorado

Citation

Educators

Akooda: Charging Toward Operational Intelligence

By: Christopher Stanton and Shira Aronson

February 2025 |
Teaching Note |
Faculty Research

Citation

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Research: The Costs of Circumventing Tariffs

By: Jaya Y. Wen, Ebehi Iyoha, Edmund Malesky and Sung-Ju Wu

February 13, 2025 |
Article |
Harvard Business Review Digital Articles

When tariffs are levied against a specific country, that country might attempt to circumvent the tariff by rerouting products through a third country to avoid the higher taxes. Research in the aftermath of the 2018 U.S.-China trade war examined this phenomenon, finding that, while tariff circumvention through Vietnam did happen, it wasn’t as widespread as many had initially thought. That said, there still was an increase in tariff circumvention more broadly, and specifically via Chinese-owned firms in Vietnam. The findings suggest that if a country is considering implementing tariffs, a better approach might involve ownership-based duties or firm-specific sanctions instead of blanket tariffs.

Keywords: Trade; Global Strategy; International Relations; United States; China

Citation

Purchase