Maricopa, Inc.: Finding the Right Treatment for Growth

William A. Sahlman; Thomas R. Eisenmann; Joseph B.  Fuller; Shikhar  Ghosh

Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2014

Maricopa, Inc.: Finding the Right Treatment for Growth

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

Abstract

The founders of Maricopa, Inc., a startup that sold proprietary hair-care products directly to salons, were preparing a board presentation to address the young company's inability to meet financial projections. While the products had caught on with customers, the financial shortcomings raised some questions about the company's business plan. The company had gone through much of its cash and needed additional funding to continue operating.

At the same time, two VC investors were deciding how to proceed with their investments in Maricopa. The larger VC firm questioned Maricopa's management's decisions and was hesitant to further fund the company. However the Maricopa investment was much more important to the smaller VC firm, and its representative on Maricopa's board worked hard to convince her counterpart from the larger firm that while the firm had struggled, it was a young startup with strong potential. Without the larger firm investing again in Maricopa, the business was at risk of going under.

Keywords: Business Startups; Financial Condition; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Financing and Loans; Expansion; Planning; Fashion Industry; Iowa;

Language: English

Format: Print

16 pages

Educators Purchase

Citation:

Sahlman, William A., Thomas R. Eisenmann, Joseph B. Fuller, and Shikhar Ghosh. "Maricopa, Inc.: Finding the Right Treatment for Growth." Harvard Business School Case 314-065, January 2014.

In December 2018, Kevin Ryan and Wendy Tsu faced an important decision – to finalize the CEO candidate for Truebird, an innovative, automated coffee café concept. Like many of AlleyCorp and Ryan’s companies, Truebird started with the observation of an unmet need – an inability to get good coffee at a reasonable price without a wait. Ryan’s track record as a serial entrepreneur included companies such as MongoDB, Gilt Groupe, Zola, and Business Insider. The commonality across AlleyCorp’s diverse businesses was a systematic process to ideation, led by Wendy Tsu, and an emphasis on the early Co-founder/CEO. Over the years, Ryan had refined his process of identifying the most appropriate person to serve as CEO. Two strong candidates had been shortlisted for the CEO position at Truebird. Unlike traditional approaches that used the reference check as a safety net, Ryan and Tsu considered reference check interviews as a stronger indicator of on-the-job performance. How should they structure a reference check process that would allow a complete understanding of each candidate? What questions should they ask when they found people who had worked with, or for, each of the candidates?

Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2020

Determinants of Early-Stage Startup Performance: Survey Results

Thomas R. Eisenmann

To explore determinants of new venture performance, the CEOs of 470 early-stage startups were surveyed regarding a broad range of factors related to their venture’s customer value proposition, product management, marketing, technology and operations, financial management, funding choices, team management, and founder attributes. Multivariate regression analysis shows that startups that employed lean startup management practices—in particular, an optimal rate of pivoting—had stronger seed equity valuation growth, as did new ventures that struck the right balance in recruiting for skill versus attitude and that professionalized human resource policies earlier. High levels of confidence in financial metrics—including estimates of unit economics, the ratio of customer lifetime value to customer acquisition cost, and total addressable market size—were also associated with strong growth in seed equity value. Valuation outcomes were not related to several founder/CEO attributes, including age, educational background, personality traits, and motivations for becoming an entrepreneur. Likewise, choosing angels versus venture capital firms as lead seed round investors did not predict subsequent growth in equity valuation, nor did decisions about partnerships to provide technology, operational capacity, or marketing support.

Keywords: Startups; survey research; performance analysis; Entrepreneurship; Performance; Analysis; Business Startups; Failure; Surveys;

Citation:

Eisenmann, Thomas R. "Determinants of Early-Stage Startup Performance: Survey Results." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-057, October 2020. View Details

Cite View Details SSRN Read Now

Founded in 2015, Guild Education is an education marketplace that connects employers and universities to provide employees with ‘education as a benefit.’ The Denver-based company is transforming traditional tuition assistance programs by facilitating direct payment by the employer to the academic institution and by supporting students with coaching and advising. By October 2020, Guild had gained market traction and demonstrated impressive results. Rachel Carlson, CEO and cofounder of Guild, must decide how to manage the company’s future growth. She believes there is great potential within its core education marketplace to expand the network of academic institutions and portfolio of company partners. Carlson also envisions extending the business model and entering the career placement market. To successfully do that, she needs to find the same incentive alignment in these new businesses as in Guild’s core education platform. Would it be possible to find a solution that would result in a win-win outcome for all?

Faculty & Research

Maricopa, Inc.: Finding the Right Treatment for Growth

Abstract

Citation:

About the Authors

More from these Authors