Entrepreneurial Management

- March–April 2025
- Article
Getting Value from Digital Technologies

By: Frank Cespedes and Georg Krentzel

Companies need digital technologies in an omni-channel buying world where online and in-person interactions are complements, not either/or substitutes. Multi-channel hybrid sales solutions are required, but what are the key requirements for using the available technology for competitive advantage, rather than another cost of doing business? Based on work with companies, we see lessons from firms dealing with a humble but pervasive retail outlet: convenience stores and small eating/drinking venues. The U.S. has one such outlet for every 2,200 people, and 8 of 10 Americans visit weekly one or more of 150,000 convenience stores. The channel is even more important in other countries. In Mexico there are 800,000 outlets (1 for every 160 people), and in Europe the ratios are similar (e.g., Italy has about 350,000 small restaurants, bars, and hotels). This is a fragmented and high cost-to-serve channel, but for CPG (consumer packaged goods) companies these outlets generate up to 50% of their revenue in many countries. Sales productivity is key here, and this article discusses three required capabilities and examples of each: understanding the role of channel partners in the consumer buying journey and your sales approach; using timely data for relevant insights and overcoming common barriers to getting that data; and managing ecosystem changes and trade-offs.
- March–April 2025
- Article
Getting Value from Digital Technologies

By: Frank Cespedes and Georg Krentzel

Companies need digital technologies in an omni-channel buying world where online and in-person interactions are complements, not either/or substitutes. Multi-channel hybrid sales solutions are required, but what are the key requirements for using the available technology for competitive advantage, rather than another cost of doing business? Based...
- March 14, 2025
- Editorial
Harvard Students Should Ignore Calls to Boycott Israel Trek

By: Scott Kominers, Jesse M. Fried, Paul A. Gompers and Mark C. Poznansky
- March 14, 2025
- Editorial
Harvard Students Should Ignore Calls to Boycott Israel Trek

By: Scott Kominers, Jesse M. Fried, Paul A. Gompers and Mark C. Poznansky
- March 2025
- Case
Metaphysic AI: Rethinking the Value of Human Expertise

By: Zoë B. Cullen, Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai
- March 2025
- Case
Metaphysic AI: Rethinking the Value of Human Expertise

By: Zoë B. Cullen, Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

About the Unit

The Entrepreneurial Management Unit strives to raise the level of academic work in the field of entrepreneurship, in methodological rigor, conceptual depth, and managerial applicability. We also strive to improve the odds of entrepreneurial success for our students and for practitioners worldwide.

Because it is such a complex phenomenon, entrepreneurship must be studied through multiple lenses. We use three.

The process of entrepreneurship - We seek to understand the processes of entrepreneurial activity in start-ups and established firms by examining the antecedents and consequences of various forms of entrepreneurial opportunity identification and opportunity pursuit for individuals, organizations, and industries. We see experimentation and innovation in products, services, processes, and business models as central to entrepreneurial activity.
The finance of entrepreneurship - We seek to understand the financing of entrepreneurial ventures by studying the antecedents and consequences of entrepreneurial funding decisions both domestically and internationally.
The context of entrepreneurship - We seek to understand the ways in which entrepreneurs both respond to and shape the context in which they operate, by examining the history of entrepreneurship across time and national borders and by analyzing the legal and cultural contexts for managerial action.

Please also visit the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship.

Recent Publications

Getting Value from Digital Technologies

By: Frank Cespedes and Georg Krentzel

March–April 2025 |
Article |
European Business Review

Companies need digital technologies in an omni-channel buying world where online and in-person interactions are complements, not either/or substitutes. Multi-channel hybrid sales solutions are required, but what are the key requirements for using the available technology for competitive advantage, rather than another cost of doing business? Based on work with companies, we see lessons from firms dealing with a humble but pervasive retail outlet: convenience stores and small eating/drinking venues. The U.S. has one such outlet for every 2,200 people, and 8 of 10 Americans visit weekly one or more of 150,000 convenience stores. The channel is even more important in other countries. In Mexico there are 800,000 outlets (1 for every 160 people), and in Europe the ratios are similar (e.g., Italy has about 350,000 small restaurants, bars, and hotels). This is a fragmented and high cost-to-serve channel, but for CPG (consumer packaged goods) companies these outlets generate up to 50% of their revenue in many countries. Sales productivity is key here, and this article discusses three required capabilities and examples of each: understanding the role of channel partners in the consumer buying journey and your sales approach; using timely data for relevant insights and overcoming common barriers to getting that data; and managing ecosystem changes and trade-offs.

Keywords: Sales; Technology Adoption; Competitive Advantage

Citation

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Harvard Students Should Ignore Calls to Boycott Israel Trek

By: Scott Kominers, Jesse M. Fried, Paul A. Gompers and Mark C. Poznansky

March 14, 2025 |
Editorial |
Harvard Crimson

Citation

Read Now

Metaphysic AI: Rethinking the Value of Human Expertise

By: Zoë B. Cullen, Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

March 2025 |
Case |
Faculty Research

Citation

Educators

How Gen AI Could Change the Value of Expertise

By: Joseph Fuller, Matt Sigelman and Michael Fenlon

March 10, 2025 |
Article |
Harvard Business Review (website)

In the near future, gen AI is likely to affect some 50 million jobs, automating away elements of some jobs and augmenting workers’ abilities in others. The extent of those changes will compel companies to reshape their organizational structures and rethink their talent management strategies in profound ways, with implications that will affect not only for industries but also individuals and society. Critically, traditional learning curves for jobs will be redrawn, creating new paradigms for skill acquisition and career advancement. This shift demands a fundamental rethinking of how businesses approach talent management and how individuals navigate their careers.

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Organizational Structure; Talent and Talent Management; Personal Development and Career

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O2X: Optimizing to the X

By: Scott Duke Kominers, Thomas Jennings and Maisie Wiltshire-Gordon

March 2025 |
Case |
Faculty Research

Citation

Educators

Incentive-Compatible Recovery from Manipulated Signals, with Applications to Decentralized Physical Infrastructure

By: Jason Milionis, Jens Ernstberger, Joseph Bonneau, Scott Duke Kominers and Tim Roughgarden

2025 |
Working Paper |
Faculty Research

We introduce the first formal model capturing the elicitation of unverifiable information from a party (the "source") with implicit signals derived by other players (the "observers"). Our model is motivated in part by applications in decentralized physical infrastructure networks (a.k.a. "DePIN"), an emerging application domain in which physical services (e.g., sensor information, bandwidth, or energy) are provided at least in part by untrusted and self-interested parties. A key challenge in these signal network applications is verifying the level of service that was actually provided by network participants. We first establish a condition called source identifiability, which we show is necessary for the existence of a mechanism for which truthful signal reporting is a strict equilibrium. For a converse, we build on techniques from peer prediction to show that in every signal network that satisfies the source identifiability condition, there is in fact a strictly truthful mechanism, where truthful signal reporting gives strictly higher total expected payoff than any less informative equilibrium. We furthermore show that this truthful equilibrium is in fact the unique equilibrium of the mechanism if there is positive probability that any one observer is unconditionally honest (e.g., if an observer were run by the network owner). Also, by extending our condition to coalitions, we show that there are generally no collusion-resistant mechanisms in the settings that we consider. We apply our framework and results to two DePIN applications: proving location, and proving bandwidth. In the location-proving setting observers learn (potentially enlarged) Euclidean distances to the source. Here, our condition has an appealing geometric interpretation, implying that the source's location can be truthfully elicited if and only if it is guaranteed to lie inside the convex hull of the observers.

Citation

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Shake Shack's Playbook for the Digital Era

By: Christopher Stanton, Allison Ciechanover and George Gonzalez

February 2025 |
Case |
Faculty Research

This case examines Shake Shack’s journey from a single New York City hot dog cart to a global fast-casual restaurant chain renowned for both premium quality and a culture of “enlightened hospitality.” As the company expands worldwide, it pilots digital ordering technologies—mobile apps, self-service kiosks, robot delivery - while remaining vigilant about preserving the human touch that underpins its brand. Leaders grapple with how automation and personalization might boost operational efficiency and customer satisfaction without undermining Shake Shack’s hallmark hospitality ethos or alienating employees. The narrative highlights Shake Shack’s history, business model, team culture, and innovation pipeline, culminating in strategic questions about the future of hospitality in a highly competitive, tech-driven industry. By exploring Shake Shack’s experiences, students gain insight into the complexities of balancing brand values, technological adoption, and workforce development in a dynamic market.

Citation

Educators

Influencer-Led Brand Building: Hairitage and the McKnights

By: William R. Kerr and James Palano

February 2025 |
Teaching Note |
Faculty Research

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 825-066. Mindy McKnight started in 2009 as an early influencer on social media whose videos of creative hairstyles for girls launched her family on an entrepreneurship journey. The McKnights transitioned from YouTube ad revenue to brand sponsorships, licensing deals, equity partnerships, and eventually full product ownership. By 2024, McKnight and her twin daughters had built a following of over 40 million on social media and had two successful brands. McKnight had partnered with a product incubator Maesea to launch a line of haircare products, Hairitage, that generated $23 million in sales in 2023. Her daughters had built their own brand of skincare products also offered at Walmart, ITK Skincare. As Hairitage planned to expand into CVS, McKnight faced strategic decisions on sustaining product growth and leveraging the family's influence in a shifting social media landscape.

Keywords: Family Business; Social Media; Entrepreneurship; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Power and Influence; Expansion; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

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