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• Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2020

  The Black New Venture Competition

  Karen Mills, Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Martin Sinozich and Gabriella Elanbeck

  Keywords: Startup; start-up; Startup financing; Startups; start-ups; African-American Protagonist; african-american entrepreneurs; african-american investors; African-Americans; African-American women; black leadership; Black inventors; Black entrepreneurs; Harvard Business School; Harvard; business and society; Business Plan; competition; early stage funding; Early Stage Finance; venture capital; technology entrepreneurship; diversity; discrimination; Technology ventures; entrepreneurial finance; entrepreneurial financing; Business Plan; Business Startups; Business Ventures; Business Growth and Maturation; Diversity; Gender; Race; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Small Business; Leadership; Technology; Technology Industry;

  Citation:

  Mills, Karen, Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Martin Sinozich, and Gabriella Elanbeck. "The Black New Venture Competition." Harvard Business School Case 821-029, September 2020.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2017 (Revised September 2020)

  Classtivity: Payal's Pirouette

  Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Olivia Hull

  A few months after launching a new fitness technology product, the small staff of New York startup Classtivity gathers on a Saturday in April 2013 to take stock. With one successful pivot under its belt, Classtivity is finally generating revenue and enthusiasm among customers. But cofounder and CEO Payal Kadakia has some doubts. There are signs that customers love the offering, but studios are less enthusiastic. Efforts to get customers to return to the studios after their monthly packs expire have largely failed. Kadakia must decide, preserve the product or pivot to a new business model?

  Keywords: product pivot; boutique fitness; fitness industry; market sizing; consumer technology; bundling; subscription model; two-sided marketplace; ClassPass; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Transition; Customer Focus and Relationships; Technological Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Customer Value and Value Chain; Marketing Strategy; Failure; Business Strategy; Technology Industry; Health Industry; New York (city, NY);

  Citation:

  Bussgang, Jeffrey J., and Olivia Hull. "Classtivity: Payal's Pirouette." Harvard Business School Case 817-002, January 2017. (Revised September 2020.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | May 2020 (Revised September 2020)

  Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?

  Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Amy Klopfenstein and Amram Migdal

  In November 2019, Sandra Richter, co-founder and CEO of Soofa, a network of advertising-supported digital bulletin boards, must decide between two different fundraising and expansion plans for her company. One plan entails raising $15 million in a Series A round and pursuing an aggressive expansion strategy, while the other represents a more modest $3 million raise to bring the company to operating profitability. Richter had developed the $15 million plan with an executive introduced to her by her venture capital board members with extensive fundraising and startup experience; however, after months of pitching to investors, the aggressive expansion plan had failed to produce a term sheet. Richter must decide whether the rapid expansion is the right course of action for the company as she begins to question whether her business could realistically meet the plan’s projections even if she could secure the financing to fund it. Meanwhile, Soofa’s capital was rapidly dwindling. Richter must raise another round of capital by early 2020, or will be forced to lay off the majority of her staff and close her operations. Should she continue pursuing the aggressive expansion plan, pivot to the more modest plan based on operating profitability, or attempt to pursue both plans simultaneously? And how should she navigate the growing tension on her board given the company’s struggles?

  Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Model; Business Plan; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Decisions; Ethics; Geography; Geopolitical Units; Finance; Investment; Markets; Market Entry and Exit; Demand and Consumers; Network Effects; Media; Society; Urban Development; Sustainable Cities; Technology; Hardware; Technology Platform; Strategy; Business Strategy; Expansion; Relationships; Partners and Partnerships; Capital; Venture Capital; Advertising Industry; Technology Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; North and Central America; United States; Massachusetts; Cambridge;

  Citation:

  Bussgang, Jeffrey J., Amy Klopfenstein, and Amram Migdal. "Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?" Harvard Business School Case 820-098, May 2020. (Revised September 2020.)  View Details

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