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• Case | HBS Case Collection | July 2018 (Revised November 2018)

  SOFWERX: Innovation at U.S. Special Operations Command

  Herman Leonard, Mitchell Weiss, Jin Hyun Paik and Kerry Herman

  James “Hondo” Geurts, the Acquisition Executive for U.S. Special Operations Command was in the middle of his Senate confirmation hearing in 2017 to become Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition. The questions had a common theme: how would Geurts’s experience running an innovative procurement effort for U.S. Special Forces units enable him to change a much larger—and much more rigid—organization like the U.S. Navy? In one of the most secretive parts of the U.S. military, Geurts founded an open platform called SOFWERX to speed the rate of ideas to Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces, and the like. His team even sourced the idea for a hoverboard from a YouTube video. But how should things like SOFWERX and protypes like the EZ-Fly find a place within the Navy writ large?

  Keywords: James Geurts; innovation; public entrepreneurship; open innovation; crowdsourcing; contests; prototyping; SOFWERX; Special Operations; SOCOM; govtech; acquistion; procurement; FAR; EZ-Fly; Navy; Department of Defense; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Entrepreneurship; Public Sector; Public Administration Industry; United States;

  Citation:

  Leonard, Herman, Mitchell Weiss, Jin Hyun Paik, and Kerry Herman. "SOFWERX: Innovation at U.S. Special Operations Command." Harvard Business School Case 819-004, July 2018. (Revised November 2018.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2006 (Revised October 2018)

  Jamnalal Bajaj, Mahatma Gandhi, and the Struggle for Indian Independence

  Geoffrey Jones, Prabakar 'PK' Kothandaraman and Kerry Herman

  Describes the role of a leading Indian business leader in the campaign for independence before 1947 and his close relationship with the legendary Mahatma Gandhi. Provides the opportunity to consider the impact of colonialism on shaping Indian entrepreneurship and the role of the small Marwari group, originally from the Marwar region of Rajasthan, in creating many of India's leading business houses, including the Bajaj. The Bajaj, like other Marwari, were traders who after World War I transitioned into manufacturing, including sugar manufacturing and steel rolling.

  Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Government and Politics; Business History; Leadership; Business and Government Relations; Power and Influence; India;

  Citation:

  Jones, Geoffrey, Prabakar 'PK' Kothandaraman, and Kerry Herman. "Jamnalal Bajaj, Mahatma Gandhi, and the Struggle for Indian Independence." Harvard Business School Case 807-028, August 2006. (Revised October 2018.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | October 2018

  Accomplice: Scaling Early Stage Finance

  Ramana Nanda, Raffaella Sadun and Olivia Hull

  Accomplice, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Boston, is raising its second fund in November 2017. Since 2009, the firm has followed a seed-led investment model, investing in tech companies at the earliest stages, often when products and business models are still experimental. The firm’s partners are pleased with their preliminary returns and the deal flow they’ve been able to cultivate, in part by empowering local entrepreneurs to invest in promising new ideas on their behalf. The partners are confident their long-term returns will validate their investment strategy and positioning in the increasingly competitive VC market. Will investors agree?

  Keywords: venture capital; Early Stage Finance; Seed Finance; Scouts; Business Startups; Private Equity; Investment Portfolio; Organizational Structure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Partners and Partnerships; Networks; Adaptation; Corporate Strategy; Technology; Financial Services Industry; Massachusetts; Boston; Cambridge; United States;

  Citation:

  Nanda, Ramana, Raffaella Sadun, and Olivia Hull. "Accomplice: Scaling Early Stage Finance." Harvard Business School Case 719-403, October 2018.  View Details

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