Skype

Peter A. Coles; Thomas R. Eisenmann

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Compilation | March 2006 (Revised December 2009)

Skype

by Peter A. Coles and Thomas R. Eisenmann

Abstract

Presents eBay's rationale for its $2.6 billion acquisition in late 2005 of Skype, a fast growing voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) provider. Describes Skype's history, technology, business model, and competition, as well as government regulation of VoIP services.

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Communication Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Network Effects; Competitive Strategy; Internet; Technology Networks; Telecommunications Industry;

Format: Print

19 pages

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Citation:

Coles, Peter A., and Thomas R. Eisenmann. "Skype." Harvard Business School Compilation 806-165, March 2006. (Revised December 2009.)

About the Author

Thomas R. Eisenmann

Howard H. Stevenson Professor of Business Administration

Entrepreneurial Management

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Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2019 (Revised December 2019)

Anthony Soohoo at Dot & Bo: Bringing Storytelling to Furniture E-Commerce

Thomas R. Eisenmann, Allison M. Ciechanover and George Gonzalez

The case provides students an opportunity to examine the founding of an e-commerce startup that used storytelling and compelling images to sell furniture and home accessories to millennials. The case describes the rapid sales growth the company experienced, as well as the challenges it faced with operations, delivery, and order tracking. Finally, the protagonist is poised to raise a Series C financing he hopes will value the company at $200 million.

Keywords: e-commerce; Startups; furnishing; Leadership; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Internet; Failure; United States;

Citation:
Eisenmann, Thomas R., Allison M. Ciechanover, and George Gonzalez. "Anthony Soohoo at Dot & Bo: Bringing Storytelling to Furniture E-Commerce." Harvard Business School Case 820-036, September 2019. (Revised December 2019.) View Details

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Supplement | HBS Case Collection | September 2019 (Revised December 2019)

Anthony Soohoo: Retrospection on Dot & Bo

Thomas R. Eisenmann, Allison M. Ciechanover and George Gonzalez

The case provides students an opportunity to examine the founding of an e-commerce startup that used storytelling and compelling images to sell furniture and home accessories to millennials. The case describes the rapid sales growth the company experienced, as well as the challenges it faced with operations, delivery, and order tracking. Finally, the protagonist is poised to raise a Series C financing he hopes will value the company at $200 million.

Keywords: e-commerce; Startups; furnishing; Leadership; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Internet; Failure; United States;

Citation:
Eisenmann, Thomas R., Allison M. Ciechanover, and George Gonzalez. "Anthony Soohoo: Retrospection on Dot & Bo." Harvard Business School Supplement 820-037, September 2019. (Revised December 2019.) View Details

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Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2016 (Revised November 2019)

eSig: Growth Analysis

Mark Roberge and Tom Eisenmann

eSig, an early-stage startup, offers an electronic signature application as a "freemium" product, i.e., users can upgrade from a free basic version to a premium version by paying a subscription fee. Using 9 months of data from 50,000 user activations (available as a case supplement), students are asked to project the number of new users eSig will acquire in Q1 2016 and recommend how much they should spend during the quarter on each major marketing channel (e.g., Facebook ads, Google ads, content marketing, etc.). Note: the name and functionality of the actual freemium application upon which the case is based have been disguised.

Keywords: esignature; Computer software; Business or Company Management; Marketing Channels; Software; Business Startups; Computer Industry;

Citation:
Roberge, Mark, and Tom Eisenmann. "eSig: Growth Analysis." Harvard Business School Case 817-009, August 2016. (Revised November 2019.) View Details

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Skype

Abstract

Citation:

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