Steven Carpenter at Cake Financial (Abridged)

Thomas R. Eisenmann; Joseph B.  Fuller; Shikhar  Ghosh

Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2014

Steven Carpenter at Cake Financial (Abridged)

by Thomas R. Eisenmann, Joseph B. Fuller and Shikhar Ghosh

Abstract

Steven Carpenter reflects on the successes and failures of his recent venture, Cake Financial. Carpenter had just sold the four-year-old startup and was at work on a new business plan. But first, he wanted to understand why Cake Financial, a service that allowed users to access their brokerage accounts on one platform and also see how other users were investing, had not been widely adopted by customers despite positive receptions from technology and financial observers. The startup had also received financial support from prominent angel investors. Carpenter asked himself what he should have done differently with the technology supporting the platform, and how Cake should have better targeted customers and responded to their unique needs. He also wondered whether he had made the right decisions about when, and from whom, to seek funding at various stages of the company's growth.

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Internet; Financial Services Industry; Web Services Industry;

Language: English

Format: Print

20 pages

Educators

Citation:

Eisenmann, Thomas R., Joseph B. Fuller, and Shikhar Ghosh. "Steven Carpenter at Cake Financial (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 814-054, January 2014.

Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2020

Disrupting Justice at RightNow: Persevere, Pivot or Perish

Shikhar Ghosh and Amir Reza Rezvani

The case examines the focus of an early stage company, and how an unexpected external incidence can threaten or void the business model. It encompasses issues such as defining and pivoting a business model, organizational requirements for a pivot, investor relations, disruptive business models, as well as business conduct in continental Europe. In 2017, Dr. Torben Antretter, a former competitive tennis player and academic researcher, founded RightNow with his two co-founders. RightNow was set out to provide consumers with “Justice-as-a-Service” by purchasing their legal claims that they would not pursue otherwise. Just one year after its inception, the company had closed a €25 million financing to increase its market share and leverage further growth opportunities. Upon closing of this financing round, matters took a sudden and unexpected turn when the National Supreme Court announced a ruling that airlines were no longer required to refund flight tickets. This decision wiped out RightNow’s profit margins. Antretter and his co-founders had to decide what they should do with the business. How should the founders approach investors? Should they quit and walk away from their entrepreneurial dream or try to reinvent the business with a different focus? What would be the strategy going forward?

Keywords: entrepreneurship; legal aspects of business; venture capital; Startup; teams; Pivot; financing; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Business Model; Legal Services Industry; Germany;

Citation:

Ghosh, Shikhar, and Amir Reza Rezvani. "Disrupting Justice at RightNow: Persevere, Pivot or Perish." Harvard Business School Case 821-027, September 2020. View Details

Cite View Details Educators

The case examines issues such as cascading problems within the organization, changing founder roles, founder success criteria, as well as company exit consideration. In 2017, Dr. Torben Antretter, a former competitive tennis player and academic researcher, founded RightNow with his two co-founders. RightNow was set out to provide consumers with “Justice-as-a-Service” by purchasing their legal claims that they would not pursue otherwise. Three years after inception and after overcoming numerous consecutive hurdles, the company was entering its next stage of its lifecycle. The selection of an investor type would be instrumental to the next few years of the company and the lives of the founders. With success, considerations around company exit and defining success criteria became inevitable. Different investors types had different investment criteria with regards to target returns, growth ambitions, decision rights, and ownership stakes. Antretter and his co-founders had to decide, jointly as well as individually, what they want to do. Discussions among the founding team showed that they needed to develop an ‘exit strategy’ in the same way that they had developed a growth strategy. When should they consider an exit and take some chips off the table? Was it more important to become rich or to remain kings of their kingdom?

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Steven Carpenter at Cake Financial (Abridged)

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