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  • December 2018 (Revised July 2020)
  • Supplement
  • HBS Case Collection

Bulb 2018: Rapid Growth

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:19 
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Abstract

This is the third case in a three-case series on Bulb Energy Ltd. It follows “Bulb 2015: Foundation” (719-440) and “Bulb 2017: Launch” (719-441). After a wild and volatile year, Bulb, a new entrant in the UK residential energy market, ended March 2018 with 329,127 properties, 1.2% of the total residential energy market. This was 150% ahead of a plan for 130,000 properties and almost ten times the size the founders, Amit Gudka and Hayden Wood, had imagined in August 2015 when they first launched. Bulb was now one of the top 12 energy suppliers in the UK. Gudka and Wood were convinced that if they reinvested all their profits in growth, they would reach 500,000 properties by March 2019, and reach more than 1 million by March 2021. This would mean postponing the launch of a range of value-added services they had included in their original Launch Plan, but it could make Bulb number 7 in the industry and the first real challenger to the UK's "Big Six" leading energy suppliers to pass the one million-member mark. Was it time to seek more funding to really challenge the Big Six, making renewable energy mainstream? And did it make sense to delay value-added services to support energy conservation, distributed generation, and the switch to electric vehicles, or should they seek funding to support these initiatives too?

Keywords

Rapid Growth Stage; Green Energy; Start-up; Customer Acquisition; Customer Churn; Customer Engagement; Electricity; Resources; Growth Strategy; B-corp; Renewable Energy; Business Startups; Growth And Development Strategy; Business Model; Working Capital; Customers; Growth Management; Finance; Decision Making; United Kingdom

Citation

Wells, John R., and Benjamin Weinstock. "Bulb 2018: Rapid Growth." Harvard Business School Supplement 719-442, December 2018. (Revised July 2020.)
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About The Author

John R. Wells

Strategy
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Related Work

    • December 2018 (Revised July 2020)
    • Faculty Research

    Bulb 2018: Rapid Growth

    By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock
Related Work
  • Bulb 2018: Rapid Growth By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock
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