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• Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2018 (Revised October 2019)

  Fluidity: The Tokenization of Real Estate Assets

  Marco Di Maggio, David Lane and Susie Ma

  In December 2018, the blockchain startup Fluidity was about to participate in its first tokenization deal, which would create digital access to property rights in a 12-unit Manhattan condominium complex. The deal was proof-of-concept for Fluidity, which hoped to develop a business digitizing securities issuance for other real estate assets on the basis of its technical facility with blockchain technology, and in conjunction with its broker-dealer partner, Propellr. A successful transaction would only prompt larger and more urgent strategic questions, however. Among them was the appropriate revenue model for Fluidity—whether to grow by providing its technical services to broker-dealers, by going into tokenized securities issuance, or by harnessing its trading technology to facilitate a secondary market in tokenized securities.

  Keywords: Blockchain; tokenization; data security; revenue model; Finance; Technological Innovation; Strategy;

  Citation:

  Di Maggio, Marco, David Lane, and Susie Ma. "Fluidity: The Tokenization of Real Estate Assets." Harvard Business School Case 219-057, December 2018. (Revised October 2019.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2019

  Earth Bank of Codes: Making Nature's Biological Assets Visible and Valuable for the Benefit of All

  Tarun Khanna, Raffaella Sadun and Susie Ma

  In 2019, entrepreneur Juan Carlos Castilla-Rubio was developing a project he hoped could generate and share wealth from the natural resources of the Amazon without destroying those resources. His idea, called Earth Bank of Codes (EBC), would create a library of the genomic codes of all known species that could be tapped for discovery and innovation, from new medical interventions to more efficient manufacturing processes. He proposed to use blockchain technology to make the data both accessible and trackable so that its use could be monitored. Castilla-Rubio envisioned a time when a company in the U.S. could access a biological asset from the Peruvian Amazon, develop and commercialize a product based on the asset, and have a fraction of the resulting sales land directly in the bank account of various beneficiaries, including the Peruvian government and indigenous communities. Now he was facing major decisions about how to structure EBC to achieve his goals. Should he start at the top and build partnerships with national governments and inter-governmental organizations as the cornerstone of EBC? Or would it be better to forge ahead with a few stakeholders in an entrepreneurial project?

  Keywords: Decision Making; Development Economics; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Intellectual Property; Emerging Markets; Market Design; Marketplace Matching; Science; Genetics; Natural Environment; Environmental Sustainability; Weather and Climate Change; Social Enterprise; Strategy; Strategic Planning; Technology; Ownership; Social Psychology; Trust; Society; Biotechnology Industry; South America; Amazon Basin;

  Citation:

  Khanna, Tarun, Raffaella Sadun, and Susie Ma. "Earth Bank of Codes: Making Nature's Biological Assets Visible and Valuable for the Benefit of All." Harvard Business School Case 720-356, September 2019.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2019

  Baroo (A): Pet Concierge

  Thomas R. Eisenmann, Susie L. Ma, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Susie L. Ma

  Baroo CEO Lindsay Hyde was facing unrest from the board of her pet services startup in August 2017. One board member (and lead investor) was alarmed that Baroo’s growth was slowing while its appetite for funding was accelerating. Hyde wanted to hit the gas and continue expanding to new cities, which meant she needed to raise venture capital. How could she convince the board and potential investors that the business opportunities were too good to pass up and an infusion of capital could help her steer Baroo through the speed bumps?

  Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Outcome or Result; Failure; Business and Shareholder Relations; Venture Capital; Service Industry; United States; Massachusetts;

  Citation:

  Eisenmann, Thomas R., and Susie L. Ma. "Baroo (A): Pet Concierge." Harvard Business School Case 820-011, August 2019.  View Details

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