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Case | HBS Case Collection | October 2016

Triangulate: Stay, Pivot or Exit?

by Thomas Eisenmann, Shikhar Ghosh and Christopher Payton

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Abstract

Sunil Nagaraj, Triangulate's founder had spent a few years trying to launch a dating application that matched users based on their behavior on social media. Based on input from advisors, the company changed its focus from a B2B site to a B2C dating site with a unique value proposition – offering matches using recommendations of friends who knew the person. The product got some initial traction but still did not have the virality necessary to grow profitability. The company pivoted yet again to launch DateBuzz, a fresh approach to dating that asked users to vote on bite-sized elements of potential matches before revealing their full profiles. Initial data from this approach was promising but, by now, the team and investors were tired. The company had previously raised a $750,000 seed round and Nagaraj, encouraged by the early success of DateBuzz had offered jobs to two experienced business professionals. However, his investors did not share his enthusiasm for the business. Triangulate had less than $200,000 left in the bank and 3-4 months of runway. Should Nagaraj cut the burn rate further by rescinding the offers to the new employees? Should he raise another round from angels, friends and family? He was satisfied that he had built a strong relationship with the lead investors, and felt they would support his decision if he chose to shut down the company. But, had he tried enough to make Triangulate succeed?

Keywords: early stage; Pivot; two sided markets; Business Model; Business Exit or Shutdown; Product Launch; Venture Capital; Failure; Internet; Entrepreneurship; Technology; Social and Collaborative Networks; United States; North America;

Language: English Format: Print 29 pages EducatorsPurchase

Citation:

Eisenmann, Thomas, Shikhar Ghosh, and Christopher Payton. "Triangulate: Stay, Pivot or Exit?" Harvard Business School Case 817-059, October 2016.

Related Work

  1. Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | May 2019

    Triangulate: Stay, Pivot or Exit

    Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

    Teaching Note for HBS No. 817-059.

    Citation:

    Ghosh, Shikhar, and Shweta Bagai. "Triangulate: Stay, Pivot or Exit." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 819-144, May 2019.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsPurchase Related

About the Authors

Photo
Thomas R. Eisenmann
Howard H. Stevenson Professor of Business Administration
Entrepreneurial Management

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Shikhar Ghosh
Professor of Management Practice
Entrepreneurial Management

View Profile »
View Publications »

 

More from these Authors

  • 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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  • Supplement | HBS Case Collection | November 2019 (Revised November 2019)

    eSig: Growth Analysis

    Mark N. Roberge and Thomas R. 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; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Management; Marketing Channels; Software; Computer Industry; United States;

    Citation:

    Roberge, Mark N., and Thomas R. Eisenmann. "eSig: Growth Analysis." Harvard Business School Spreadsheet Supplement 817-701, November 2019. (Revised November 2019.)  View Details
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    Ghosh, Shikhar, and Christopher Payton. "Business Model Exercise: Purpose and Overview." Harvard Business School Exercise 820-708, October 2019.  View Details
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