Entrepreneurial Management
-
-
- September 2023
- Case
RightHand Robotics: Choosing the First Market
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Stacy StraabergIn early 2015, RightHand Robotics’s (RHR) leadership faced several decisions in commercializing the startup’s robotic picking solution. RHR’s central product was the RightPick integrated robotic picking system which featured a robotic arm, a three-fingered robotic hand (also called a gripper), a camera-based vision system, and artificial intelligence (AI) software. Unlike competitors, the gripper could pick up items of different sizes, shapes, and weights without pre-programming. Recent participation in the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program had exposed the RHR team to various markets they could pursue: produce harvesting, subscription box services, e-commerce warehouse automation, assembly manufacturing, recycling, bomb disposal, and prosthetics. A related choice was the scope of the RHR product offering, ranging from selling the entire integrated robotic system to selling one component such as grippers or software. Finally, RHR was contemplating whether to contract exclusively with a system integrator, the party that would manage RHR’s product installation for customers. The RHR team considered which set of decisions would ensure a successful go-to-market strategy.
- September 2023
- Case
RightHand Robotics: Choosing the First Market
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Stacy StraabergIn early 2015, RightHand Robotics’s (RHR) leadership faced several decisions in commercializing the startup’s robotic picking solution. RHR’s central product was the RightPick integrated robotic picking system which featured a robotic arm, a three-fingered robotic hand (also called a gripper), a camera-based vision system, and artificial...
-
- August 2023
- Case
Tenkara Outfitters
By: Christina Wallace, Jo Tango and Johnson ElugbadeboAfter taking over from their parents, Sebastian Maxwell and Alexandra Ito, CEO and COO of Minnesota-based outdoor adventure brand Tenkara, must decide how they want to resource and grow this formerly family-run business. After outdoor activities exploded during the COVID pandemic, Tenkara boasted a growth curve that could put them on a VC-backed path. But is that the right choice for these founders and this business? And if so, which of two Series A term sheets should they accept?
- August 2023
- Case
Tenkara Outfitters
By: Christina Wallace, Jo Tango and Johnson ElugbadeboAfter taking over from their parents, Sebastian Maxwell and Alexandra Ito, CEO and COO of Minnesota-based outdoor adventure brand Tenkara, must decide how they want to resource and grow this formerly family-run business. After outdoor activities exploded during the COVID pandemic, Tenkara boasted a growth curve that could put them on a VC-backed...
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
Atomwise: Strategic Opportunities in AI for Pharma
- September 2023 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
RightHand Robotics: Choosing the First Market
- September 2023 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Apple: Privacy vs. Safety (C)
- August 2023 |
- Supplement |
- Faculty Research
Tenkara Outfitters
- August 2023 |
- Supplement |
- Faculty Research
Tenkara Outfitters
- August 2023 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Aphro Beverages
- August 2023 |
- Teaching Note |
- Faculty Research
DexAI
- August 2023 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research