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  • September 2020
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Disrupting Justice at RightNow: Persevere, Pivot or Perish

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Amir Reza Rezvani
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:7
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Abstract

The case examines the focus of an early stage company, and how an unexpected external incidence can threaten or void the business model. It encompasses issues such as defining and pivoting a business model, organizational requirements for a pivot, investor relations, disruptive business models, as well as business conduct in continental Europe. In 2017, Dr. Torben Antretter, a former competitive tennis player and academic researcher, founded RightNow with his two co-founders. RightNow was set out to provide consumers with “Justice-as-a-Service” by purchasing their legal claims that they would not pursue otherwise. Just one year after its inception, the company had closed a €25 million financing to increase its market share and leverage further growth opportunities. Upon closing of this financing round, matters took a sudden and unexpected turn when the National Supreme Court announced a ruling that airlines were no longer required to refund flight tickets. This decision wiped out RightNow’s profit margins. Antretter and his co-founders had to decide what they should do with the business. How should the founders approach investors? Should they quit and walk away from their entrepreneurial dream or try to reinvent the business with a different focus? What would be the strategy going forward?

Keywords

Legal Aspects Of Business; Startup; Teams; Pivot; Financing; Entrepreneurship; Law; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Financing and Loans; Business Model; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Legal Services Industry; Germany

Citation

Ghosh, Shikhar, and Amir Reza Rezvani. "Disrupting Justice at RightNow: Persevere, Pivot or Perish." Harvard Business School Case 821-027, September 2020.
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About The Author

Shikhar Ghosh

Entrepreneurial Management
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More from the Authors
  • BabyChakra: At the Crossroads By: Shikhar Ghosh and Anvita Dekhane
  • Steem versus Hive: Testing Blockchain Governance By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai
  • Mylestone: Can Multiple Pivots Preserve the Life of a Death Tech Startup? By: Shikhar Ghosh and Marilyn Morgan Westner
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