Case | HBS Case Collection | 2011 (Revised from original 2009 version)

Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs

Abstract

Two entrepreneurs have just been told by their venture capital backer to prepare a list of possible cuts to help them weather the 2008–2009 economic downturn. The impact on each firm is very different: one is a later-stage company with revenues in excess of $100 million; the other a pre-revenue company trying to raise its first institutional round. The entrepreneurs must consider their options and the impact on their companies' growth and, perhaps, survival.

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Cost Management; Growth and Development Strategy;

Format: Print

17 pages

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Citation:

Hardymon, G. Felda, and Ann Leamon. "Dave and Millie: A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs." Harvard Business School Case 809-109, March 2011. (Revised from original April 2009 version.)

This paper analyzes the effects of information about inequality and taxes on preferences for redistribution using randomized online surveys on Amazon Mechanical Turk (mTurk). About 5,000 respondents were randomized into treatments providing interactive information on U.S. income inequality, the link between top income tax rates and economic growth, and the estate tax. We find that the informational treatment has very large effects on whether respondents view inequality as an important problem. By contrast, we find quantitatively small effects of the treatment on views about policy and redistribution: support for taxing the rich increases slightly, support for transfers to the poor does not, especially among those with lower incomes and education. An exception is the estate tax — we find that informing respondents that it affects only the very richest families has an extremely large positive effect on estate tax support, even increasing respondents' willingness to write to their U.S. senator about the issue. We also find that the treatment substantially decreases trust in government, potentially mitigating respondents' willingness to translate concerns about inequality into government action. Methodologically, we explore different strategies to lower attrition in online survey platforms and show our main results are robust across methods. A small follow-up survey one month later reveals that our results persist over time. Finally, we compare mTurk with other survey vendors and provide suggestions to future researchers considering this platform.

Martin Smith, a recently hired general partner at a Brazil-based venture capital firm, must decide among three deal opportunities. Each has different strengths (management, market, and technology) but each has its own weaknesses as well. He must also consider each deal in the context of the firm's situation and his own career.

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