Browse abstracts and ordering information for case studies written and published by faculty at Stanford GSB.
For publicly available cases in this collection, Harvard Business Impact and Ivey Publishing distribute in North America, and The Case Centre and IESE Publishing in Europe.
Search the database of case studies or narrow your results by keyword, academic area, center, or initiative. Many of our cases are available to download at no charge.
Chris Anderson, best known for scaling TED and mobilizing billions for philanthropy, and Stan Miranda, a career investor who helped build Partners Capital into a $65B outsourced CIO, believe they can unlock one of climate investing’s most persistent…
This case presents Ingram Micro’s effort to reimagine the IT distribution model through Xvantage, an AI-enabled digital platform launched as the company prepared to return to public markets. In the case, CEO Paul Bay, Chief Digital Officer Sanjib Sahoo…
Alex Tiller, Captain of Lunar Labs, faces a defining moment for his organization’s experimental model of innovation. During a Quarterly Learning Review, the team behind CarbonCatcher—a direct air capture project designed to remove carbon from the…
In 2022, two first-time entrepreneurs, Hannah Greenberg and Alex Lopez, acquired Eleven Software, a Portland-based provider of cloud platforms that managed guest Wi-Fi for major hospitality brands such as Hilton and Marriott. The pair had met during their…
In 2025, serial entrepreneur and angel investor Simon de Montfort stepped into an unassuming warehouse in Alameda, California, to meet Ricky Jennings, the inventor behind SeaGlider—an ambitious effort to build autonomous, wind- and solar-powered ocean…
In 2025, Virta Health CEO and cofounder Sami Inkinen faces a series of strategic and leadership choices as the company nears profitability and contemplates an initial public offering (IPO). Founded in 2014 to reverse Type 2 diabetes and obesity through…
In 2016, an explosive investigative article exposed how USA Gymnastics had failed to report sexual abuse allegations against coaches, triggering a scandal that ultimately engulfed the broader U.S. Olympic movement. This case study examines how the U.S…
In August 2020, Jennifer Stybel joined Pivotal, the group of organizations founded by Melinda French Gates to accelerate the pace of social progress using high-impact investments, philanthropy, partnerships, and advocacy to get more power in the hands of…
In October 2024, Julie Wroblewski and Joanna Drake, cofounders of Magnify Ventures, prepared for a critical limited partner meeting to outline their strategy for Fund II. Having successfully deployed $52 million across 20+ startups in their first fund…
This case study follows Jeanne DeWitt Grosser’s tenure at Stripe as she architected the company’s sales organization from the ground up during a period of exponential growth. As Stripe evolved from a developer-focused startup to a multibillion-dollar…
The case follows Maxima Nsimenta, founder and CEO of Livara, a vertically integrated beauty brand based in Uganda. Sparked by a personal experience of racial discrimination in a salon in Congo, Nsimenta set out to transform how African women care for and…
The case study follows Ancestry’s transformation under CEO Deborah Liu as she modernizes the product organization of the genealogy market leader. Upon joining in March 2021, Liu—an accomplished product leader with experience at Facebook, PayPal and eBay…
The case examines Estée Lauder’s strategic positioning within the skin longevity movement, focusing on the repositioning of their Re-Nutriv franchise. It highlights how the longevity movement—centered on the belief that aging is a biological process that…
In 2025, Timur Turlov, founder and CEO of Freedom Holding Corp., faces a pivotal strategic decision about the future direction of his fast-growing financial technology company. What began as a Kazakhstan-based brokerage offering access to U.S. stock…
PayJoy cofounders Doug Ricket and Gib Lopez, both members of the Stanford GSB MBA class of 2014, launched PayJoy in 2014 to provide access to credit to those living in emerging markets. In the early days of the company’s history, PayJoy financed a…
This case examines the founding of Greentech Capital Advisors in 2009, presenting the critical dilemma faced by investment banking veteran Jeff McDermott: how aggressively should he pursue a promising but undeveloped market opportunity in sustainable…
This case explores Rachel Carlan’s challenge as the newly appointed Chief Investment Officer of EcoPlanet Asset Management (EPAM), a multi-billion dollar portfolio within Luke Walter’s family office. Walter wants his largest pool of assets to directly…
This case examines the founding of Greentech Capital Advisors in 2009, presenting the critical dilemma faced by investment banking veteran Jeff McDermott: how aggressively should he pursue a promising but undeveloped market opportunity in sustainable…
This case study chronicles the entrepreneurial journey of Dr. Sarah Buchner, founder and CEO of Trunk Tools, as she navigates the strategic and operational inflection points of building a venture-backed technology start-up in the construction sector…
