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.
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…
This case study follows Ritu Narayan, founder and CEO of Zum, as she redefines student transportation by applying a technology-driven approach to an industry that had seen little modernization. Zum evolved from a consumer-facing rideshare marketplace…
This brief supplement to the original Squirrel AI case study provides the reader with an update on the AI-enabled learning company, which was forced to transform its business model and go-to-market approach as a result of abrupt regulatory changes by the…
Lisa Yao, a newly minted Partner at Venerable Ventures, is poised to lead her first major investment in Generative Solutions, an AI-driven healthcare technology company. As the deal approaches closing, Yao learns from the founder, Matt Larkin, that he…
As CEO of Nextdoor, Sarah Friar (GSB MBA ’00) was charged with leading the company’s strategic direction and financial performance. She led the company through the IPO process in late 2021, and now oversaw a company with $212 million in annual revenue and…
Through the controversial decisions of Coinbase and Basecamp to ban political discussions in the workplace, this case explores the tension between maintaining focus on business objectives versus engaging with broader social issues, and whether political…
Since its founding in 2015, Impact Experience, amongst other work, has been dedicated to addressing biases in investment decisions through a holistic, immersive program of experiential learning for capital allocators. This method has successfully inspired…
By 2024, Zipline had undergone a remarkable transformation from its early days of delivering blood and life-saving medicines in Africa to becoming a global leader in autonomous drone delivery systems. This case study builds on the 2019 case “Zipline…
