New Research on the Region

  • December 2024
  • Teaching Material

Core Innovation Capital: Investing in Fintech for Good (B)

By: Ray Kluender, Natalia Rigol, Benjamin Roth and Nicole Tempest Keller

In 2017, Core Innovation Capital invested $725,000 in Hugo Insurance, a pay-as-you-drive auto insurance startup targeting the non-standard market. Core followed with $300,000 in 2019 during a Seed II round. By 2022, Hugo founder, David Bergendahl, sought $10 million in Series A funding at a $30 million valuation, inviting Core to lead with a $5 million investment. Despite early promise, Hugo faced state licensure delays, high customer acquisition costs, technical issues, churn, and the loss of a key carrier partner. While Bergendahl expressed optimism about progress, Core’s managing partner, Arjan Schütte, had to weigh the firm’s stricter follow-on investment criteria against the risk of diluting ownership if Hugo succeeded.

  • October 2024
  • Teaching Material

The Semiconductor Industry

By: Andy Wu, Steve Blank and Matt Higgins

The semiconductor industry powers modern technology, from consumer electronics to data centers. This background note explores the layers of the semiconductor inudstry value chain, including Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDMs), fabless companies, and foundries, while detailing the critical role of chip design, manufacturing, and market dynamics in the global supply chain.

  • October 2024
  • Case

Nvidia

By: Andy Wu and Matt Higgins

This case study examines Nvidia's strategic pivot from gaming GPUs to becoming a leader in general-purpose computing and AI. It explores how Nvidia leveraged its GPU architecture to dominate the growing fields of data center acceleration and AI training, outpacing competitors. Key themes include the evolution of Nvidia’s product lines, its ecosystem-driven strategy (CUDA), and the company’s role in advancing AI technologies across industries. This transition has positioned Nvidia as a critical player in the future of AI-driven computing, reshaping both the company and the broader semiconductor landscape.

  • August 2024
  • Case

Zipline: Expanding the World's Largest Autonomous Drone Delivery Network

By: Tarun Khanna and George Gonzalez

Zipline initially established the world's largest logistics network in Rwanda and Ghana by delivering medical supplies to hospitals via automated drones from a centralized hub. The company is now looking to expand to the U.S. home delivery market and designed a completely new decentralized solution that integrated with existing business and retail locations. Zipline must navigate the U.S. regulatory space while prioritizing its growth opportunities and partner selection, both domestically and abroad.

  • May 2024
  • Case

LinkedIn Corporation, 2024

By: David B. Yoffie, George Gonzalez and Emily Grandjean

By 2024, the LinkedIn profile was well established as the professional identity of record on the Internet. Following a multi-year effort to expand the platform’s user base, as well as a period of rapid growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, LinkedIn’s membership had ballooned to over 1 billion. The platform was widely used in the U.S. and Europe; its network and tools were often considered essential to recruiters across many industries; and it was one of the world’s largest B2B advertising platforms. LinkedIn's CEO Ryan Roslansky and his team were confident that they could accelerate the company’s momentum, despite a recent slowdown in the company's revenue growth. LinkedIn’s mission of “connecting the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful,” seemed more relevant than ever. A key question that was top of mind for senior executives was how to measure performance to deliver the mission. The team intensely debated which metrics were best to measure progress against their strategy.

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California Research Center Team

Allison Ciechanover
Executive Director
→ Biography
George Gonzalez
Senior Researcher
Matt Higgins
Senior Researcher
Jeffrey Huizinga
Assistant Director
Nicole Keller
Assistant Director
Don Maruyama
Research Associate