HearstLab: Igniting Innovation and Empowering Women (B)

By Amy Wilkinson, Lucy Montgomery
2022 | Case No. E691B | Length 14 pgs.

Eve Burton founded HearstLab in 2015 to support female entrepreneurs and cultivate a new entrepreneurial mindset within Hearst Corporation. Since the Lab’s inception in 2015, the Lab team had reviewed over 6,000 companies and made investments in 48 of them, deploying nearly $50 million of capital. Now Burton was ready to take the Lab to the next level with “Lab 2.0” and “Lab 3.0.” In each of these phases, the Lab would write bigger checks and look for ways to integrate female-founded startups into the fabric of existing Hearst businesses. In doing so, Burton hoped to solidify her legacy as a leader who relentlessly supported women entrepreneurs.

Also see: E691: HearstLab in 2019: Igniting Innovation and Empowering Women

Learning Objective

The learning objectives of this case are: Introduce students to Charles A. O’Reilly and Michael L. Tushman’s Ambidextrous Leadership Framework and Amy Wilkinson’s Six Essential Skills Framework. Discuss how Eve Burton exhibits key traits and how Hearst could institutionalize these traits.
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