Unifying Divisions: Loop's Mission to Preserve the Planet

Shikhar  Ghosh; Marilyn  Morgan Westner

Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2019 (Revised July 2020)

Unifying Divisions: Loop's Mission to Preserve the Planet

by Shikhar Ghosh and Marilyn Morgan Westner

Abstract

The case focuses on the initial startup team and Founders’ agreements. In March 2018, Sanchali Pal proposed renegotiating the informal founders’ agreement and equity split she and her co-founders had drafted the previous spring. They had been working together for over a year to solve one of the most complex and urgent problems of our time—global warming. Their company—a technology platform that enabled users to track and improve their carbon footprints on their smartphones in real time—had grown from their individual passion to combat the looming climate crisis.
In the past year, their approach had been validated multiple times at different national clean energy competitions. But beneath external success, internal frictions threatened the team. Differing expectations and overlapping roles and responsibilities sparked frustrations between the co-founders and Pal began spending a considerable amount of time mediating their disagreements instead of focusing on the business. The case ends as the co-founders are meeting to discuss 3 core issues: 1) How to re-divide equity—what changes should they make to their original agreement? 2) How to establish clear roles, titles, and decision-making rights so that they could function effectively as a team. 3) How to allocate spending cash. Each grappled with key questions: Did they still trust one another? Did they feel respected? Could they renegotiate an agreement in a way that everyone could accept?

Keywords: Founders' agreements; Business Startups; Climate Change; Conflict Management;

Language: English

Format: Print

21 pages

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Citation:

Ghosh, Shikhar, and Marilyn Morgan Westner. "Unifying Divisions: Loop's Mission to Preserve the Planet." Harvard Business School Case 820-032, August 2019. (Revised July 2020.)

Case | HBS Case Collection | November 2020

Truebird—An AlleyCorp Venture

Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

In December 2018, Kevin Ryan and Wendy Tsu faced an important decision – to finalize the CEO candidate for Truebird, an innovative, automated coffee café concept. Like many of AlleyCorp and Ryan’s companies, Truebird started with the observation of an unmet need – an inability to get good coffee at a reasonable price without a wait. Ryan’s track record as a serial entrepreneur included companies such as MongoDB, Gilt Groupe, Zola, and Business Insider. The commonality across AlleyCorp’s diverse businesses was a systematic process to ideation, led by Wendy Tsu, and an emphasis on the early Co-founder/CEO. Over the years, Ryan had refined his process of identifying the most appropriate person to serve as CEO. Two strong candidates had been shortlisted for the CEO position at Truebird. Unlike traditional approaches that used the reference check as a safety net, Ryan and Tsu considered reference check interviews as a stronger indicator of on-the-job performance. How should they structure a reference check process that would allow a complete understanding of each candidate? What questions should they ask when they found people who had worked with, or for, each of the candidates?

Keywords: Startup; hiring; staffing; recruiting; Business Ventures; Finance; Leadership; Management Skills; Management Teams; Jobs and Positions; Job Interviews; Human Resources; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Technology Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States;