Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • August 2018
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

MISHA: Modernizing the World of Shisha

By: William R. Kerr and Gamze Yucaoglu
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:23
ShareBar

Abstract

The case opens in 2017 with two of the five co-founders of MISHA telling the company’s CEO Michal Portz that they believe it is time for the global venture to shut down its operations and cease investments. Portz and another co-founder believe MISHA can still work.
The case describes the origins of the ready-to-use capsule solution for shisha smokers and the evolution of MISHA from idea to product design, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution. Consequent mishaps slow down the performance of MISHA, and after five years of the product being in the market and four financing rounds, numbers are far behind what they were in the business plan. The case explores the pivots the company goes through. The central dilemma is this: should the cofounders pull the plug on the company or invest more time and money to try to turn it around? When and according to which criteria should Portz make such a decision?

Keywords

Innovation And Management; Entrepreneurship; Private Sector; For-profit Firms; Business Strategy; Decision; Business Startups; Emerging Markets; Business Model; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Market Entry and Exit; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Value Creation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technology Industry; Qatar; United States

Citation

Kerr, William R., and Gamze Yucaoglu. "MISHA: Modernizing the World of Shisha." Harvard Business School Case 819-019, August 2018.
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Author

William R. Kerr

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • January 2023
    • Faculty Research

    ELCA's Series A

    By: Anke Becker, Ray Kluender and William R. Kerr
    • January 2023
    • Journal of Human Resources

    Social Networks, Ethnicity, and Entrepreneurship

    By: William R. Kerr and Martin Mandorff
    • October 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Volt Lines: Leading a B2B Service Provider through a Crisis (C)

    By: Navid Mojir and Gamze Yucaoglu
More from the Authors
  • ELCA's Series A By: Anke Becker, Ray Kluender and William R. Kerr
  • Social Networks, Ethnicity, and Entrepreneurship By: William R. Kerr and Martin Mandorff
  • Volt Lines: Leading a B2B Service Provider through a Crisis (C) By: Navid Mojir and Gamze Yucaoglu
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College