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  • May 2017 (Revised October 2017)
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Hyperloop Transportation Technologies: Building Breakthrough Innovations in Crowd-Powered Ecosystems

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Terri L. Griffith and Ann Majchrzak
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:22
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Abstract

Dirk Ahlborn, co-founder and CEO of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Inc. (HTT) looks back at the evolving organizational design and community that allows HTT to be crowd-powered. Since the founding in 2013, HTT has dealt with building an organization with less than 20 employees, yet serving multiple governmental entities and having over 25 patents pending . Rather than employees, HTT has invited over 800 people to contribute a minimum of 10 hours per week in exchange for future equity. Everything from recruitment, incentives, culture, technology, and intellectual property controls are handled with the idea that a community can work together to solve a global problem (transportation) by “turning a collective passion into a vision and the vision into a reality” (Ahlborn quote). The open question is how this approach will fair as the organization moves from design to delivery

Keywords

Collaboration; Crowdsourcing; Entrepreneurial Finance; Innovation; Organizational Design; Startups; Business Startups; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Product Development

Citation

Applegate, Lynda M., Terri L. Griffith, and Ann Majchrzak. "Hyperloop Transportation Technologies: Building Breakthrough Innovations in Crowd-Powered Ecosystems." Harvard Business School Case 817-134, May 2017. (Revised October 2017.)
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About The Author

Lynda M. Applegate

Entrepreneurial Management
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Related Work

    • May 2017 (Revised October 2017)
    • Faculty Research

    Hyperloop Transportation Technologies: Building Breakthrough Innovations in Crowd-Powered Ecosystems

    By: Lynda M. Applegate, Terri L. Griffith and Ann Majchrzak
Related Work
  • Hyperloop Transportation Technologies: Building Breakthrough Innovations in Crowd-Powered Ecosystems By: Lynda M. Applegate, Terri L. Griffith and Ann Majchrzak
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