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- 2021
- Working Paper
Judging Foreign Startups
Can accelerators and investors pick the most promising startup ideas no matter their provenance? We investigate this question using unique data from a global accelerator in which judges across international regions are randomly assigned to evaluate startups...
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- March 2021
- Teaching Plan
The Black New Venture Competition
Black entrepreneurs encounter many unique obstacles when raising capital to start and grow a business, some stemming from deep systemic discrimination. During their second year at Harvard Business School (HBS), MBA students Kimberly Foster and Tyler Simpson decided to...
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Keywords:
Analytics;
Startup;
Start-up;
Startup Financing;
Financing;
Startups;
Start-ups;
Business And Community;
Business And Society;
Business Growth;
Discrimination;
Women;
Women-owned Businesses;
African Americans;
African-american Entrepreneurs;
African-american Investors;
African-american Protagonist;
African-american Women;
Diversity;
Venture Capital;
Early Stage Funding;
Early Stage;
Technology;
Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship;
Innovation Competitions;
Entrepreneurship;
Entrepreneurial Financing;
Business Plan
- February 2021
- Teaching Plan
Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?
By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Amy Klopfenstein
This teaching plan serves as a supplement to the case “Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?” HBS 820-098. The case explores the tension between two different financing and expansion plans for a startup, and explores issues related to business model pivots and industry...
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Keywords:
Business Ventures;
Business Model;
Business Plan;
Business Startups;
Entrepreneurship;
Decision Making;
Decisions;
Judgments;
Ethics;
Geography;
Geopolitical Units;
Finance;
Investment;
Markets;
Market Entry and Exit;
Demand and Consumers;
Media;
Society;
Urban Development;
Sustainable Cities;
Technology;
Hardware;
Technology Platform;
Strategy;
Business Strategy;
Expansion;
Relationships;
Capital;
Venture Capital;
Advertising Industry;
Technology Industry;
Media and Broadcasting Industry;
North and Central America;
United States;
Massachusetts;
Cambridge
- February 2021
- Case
Bairong and the Promise of Big Data
By: Lauren Cohen, Xiaoyan Zhang and Spencer C.N. Hagist
Bairong CEO Felix Zhang, in launching his credit scoring start-up that incorporates 74,000 variables per individual, found strong initial success. However, the shifting regulatory environment, growing breadth of competitors, difficulties in retaining top talent, and...
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Keywords:
Fintech;
Big Data;
Artificial Intelligence;
Credit Scoring;
Finance;
Credit;
Business Startups;
China
- December 2020
- Teaching Note
Forecasting ClimaCell
By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Christopher Stanton and James Barnett
A weather technology startup, ClimaCell considers the R&D trade-offs and financing implications of pursuing a proposed contract with a major automobile maker, rather than continuing its focus on building a scalable, all-purpose weather prediction engine.
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- 2020
- Working Paper
Biased Sampling of Early Users and the Direction of Startup Innovation
By: Ruiqing Cao, Rembrand Koning and Ramana Nanda
Using data from a prominent online platform for launching new digital products, we document that the composition of the platform's ‘beta testers’ on the day a new product is launched has a systematic and persistent impact on the venture's success. Specifically, we use...
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- September 2020
- Case
Disrupting Justice at RightNow: Persevere, Pivot or Perish
By: Shikhar Ghosh and Amir Reza Rezvani
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,...
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- September 2020
- Case
Disrupting Justice at RightNow: Rich or King
By: Shikhar Ghosh and Amir Reza Rezvani
The case examines issues such as cascading problems within the organization, changing founder roles, founder success criteria, as well as company exit consideration. In 2017, Dr. Torben Antretter, a former competitive tennis player and academic researcher, founded...
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- August 2020 (Revised January 2021)
- Case
Nubank: Democratizing Financial Services
By: Michael Chu, Carla Larangeira and Pedro Levindo
Nubank, a wholly-digital solution created to disrupt Brazilian banking, with 6 million clients and a $4 billion valuation after five years, must decide whether to expand to Mexico. The company was founded in São Paulo in 2013 by Colombian-born David Vélez to seize what...
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- July 2020
- Case
Amanda and Kristen: Mented Cosmetics
By: Steven Rogers, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Alterrell Mills
The co-founders (Black HBS alumnae) of an e-commerce beauty startup explore the unmet needs within the beauty industry. This case study examines the entrepreneurial opportunities that come from identifying an underserved market, specifically within the Black community...
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Keywords:
Brands and Branding;
Competition;
Customers;
Disruption;
Disruptive Innovation;
Distribution Channels;
Entrepreneurship;
Finance;
Macroeconomics;
Marketing;
Marketing Channels;
Marketing Communications;
Marketing Strategy;
Mission and Purpose;
Organizational Culture;
Product Design;
Product Development;
Product Positioning;
Sales;
Social Issues;
Social Marketing;
Business Startups;
Strategic Planning;
Strategy;
Supply Chain Management;
Venture Capital;
Beauty and Cosmetics Industry;
Advertising Industry;
Public Relations Industry;
Chemical Industry;
Manufacturing Industry;
Retail Industry;
North and Central America;
United States;
New York (city, NY);
New York (state, US)
- June 2020
- Teaching Plan
Chief
By: Katherine B. Coffman, Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Kathleen L. McGinn, Julia Kelley, Amy Klopfenstein and Katherine Chen
Teaching Plan serves as a supplement to the case for “Chief: Role for Carolyn Childers” (920-019), “Chief: Role for Lindsay Kaplan” (920-020), and “Scaling at Chief” (920-021).
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Keywords:
Negotiation;
Negotiation Tactics;
Negotiation Participants;
Agreements and Arrangements;
Business Ventures;
Business Startups;
Business Model;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Demographics;
Gender;
Ownership;
Ownership Stake;
Strategy;
Business Strategy;
Expansion;
Competition;
Finance;
Capital;
Venture Capital;
Service Industry;
Technology Industry;
North and Central America;
United States;
New York (city, NY);
New York (state, US)
- May 2020 (Revised September 2020)
- Case
Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?
By: 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...
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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
- 2020
- Working Paper
Financial Distancing: How Venture Capital Follows the Economy Down and Curtails Innovation
By: Sabrina T. Howell, Josh Lerner, Ramana Nanda and Richard Townsend
Although late-stage venture capital (VC) activity did not change dramatically in the first two months after the COVID-19 pandemic reached the U.S., early-stage VC activity declined by 38%. The particular sensitivity of early-stage VC investment to market...
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- March 2020
- Case
EyeControl: Inspiring Communication
By: Paul A. Gompers and Danielle Golan
Eye-controlled communication device startup EyeControl was founded in Tel Aviv, Israel in 2016 by cofounders with a shared personal connection to locked-in syndrome - a neurological disorder that left sufferers cognitively sound, yet paralyzed, with the exception of...
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- January 2020
- Case
Celata Bioinnovations
By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock
In December 2019, Jon Hu (HBS ‘19) and Dr. Samantha Dale Strasser, co-founders of Celata Bioinnovations, were raising $1 million to launch their company. They had founded Celata less than six months earlier with the aim of redefining the drug discovery process....
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Keywords:
Drug Development;
Drug Discovery;
Drug Trials;
Pharmaceutical Companies;
Pharmaceutical Company;
Pharmaceuticals;
Therapeutics;
Biologics;
Biotech;
Biotechnology;
Biopharmacy Company;
Biochemistry;
Technology Commercialization;
Technology Companies;
Drug Testing;
Startup;
Start-up;
Startups;
Start-ups;
Startup Financing;
Strategic Decision Making;
Strategic Decisions;
Strategic Evolution;
Fda;
Food And Drug Administration;
Clinical Trials;
Disease Management;
Market Attractiveness;
Market Entry;
Market Opportunities;
Health Disorders;
Technological Innovation;
Technology;
Commercialization;
Business Startups;
Finance;
Decision Making;
Strategy;
Market Entry and Exit;
Opportunities;
Pharmaceutical Industry;
Biotechnology Industry
- December 2019
- Case
Forecasting ClimaCell
By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Christopher Stanton and James Barnett
A weather technology startup, ClimaCell considers the R&D trade-offs and financing implications of pursuing a proposed contract with a major automobile maker, rather than continuing its focus on building a scalable, all-purpose weather prediction engine.
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- September 2019 (Revised December 2019)
- Case
Anthony Soohoo at Dot & Bo: Bringing Storytelling to Furniture E-Commerce
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Allison M. Ciechanover and George Gonzalez
The case provides students an opportunity to examine the founding of an e-commerce startup that used storytelling and compelling images to sell furniture and home accessories to millennials. The case describes the rapid sales growth the company experienced, as well as...
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Keywords:
E-commerce;
Startups;
Furnishing;
Leadership;
Business Startups;
Entrepreneurship;
Internet;
Failure;
United States
- September 2019 (Revised May 2020)
- Supplement
Keroche (E): Considering Additional Capacity
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pippa Tubman Armerding
This case describes Keroche’s growth after entering the beer business in 2008. Although the company was operating at full capacity and not able to fulfill all of its orders, Tabitha Karanja had set a goal of growing Keroche’s share of the Kenyan beer market from...
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Keywords:
Keroche;
Alcohol;
Alcoholic Beverages;
Beer;
Beer Market;
Premium Beer;
Manufacturing;
Production;
Production Capacity;
Capacity;
Business Ventures;
Business Exit or Shutdown;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Business Startups;
Small Business;
Family Business;
Crime and Corruption;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Decisions;
Income;
Demographics;
Geographic Scope;
Geographic Location;
Goods and Commodities;
Government Legislation;
Growth and Development;
Business History;
Lawsuits and Litigation;
Laws and Statutes;
Lawfulness;
Goals and Objectives;
Consumer Behavior;
Market Entry and Exit;
Problems and Challenges;
Safety;
Social Issues;
Poverty;
Strategy;
Competition;
Entrepreneurship;
Investment;
Financing and Loans;
Manufacturing Industry;
Food and Beverage Industry
- 2019
- Chapter
Coordination Frictions in Venture Capital Syndicates
By: Ramana Nanda and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf
An extensive literature on venture capital has studied asymmetric information and agency problems between investors and entrepreneurs, examining how separating entrepreneurs from the investor can create frictions that might inhibit the funding of good projects. It has...
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- August 2019
- Case
ClearScore, 2018
By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock
In October 2017, Experian, one of the “Big Three” consumer credit reporting agencies in the United Kingdom made an offer to acquire ClearScore for a total consideration of £293 million. Founded by Justin Basini, Dan Cobley, and Nigel Morris in 2014, ClearScore was the...
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Keywords:
Fintech;
Financial Services;
Credit Card;
Credit Scores;
Startup;
Start-up;
Startup Financing;
Startup Marketing;
＂marketing Analytics＂;
Regulation;
Lending;
Television Advertising;
Entrepreneur;
Entrepreneurial Mindset;
Entrepreneurial Ventures;
Entrepreneurs;
Global Business;
Rapid Growth Stage;
Risk;
Net Present Value;
Testing;
Testing Strategy;
Geographies;
Mergers ＆ Acquisitions;
Finance;
Strategy;
Credit;
Business Startups;
Entrepreneurship;
Expansion;
Mergers and Acquisitions;
Financial Services Industry;
United Kingdom;
South Africa