M379
Russell Siegelman, Mitchel Scott, Margot Sutherland
2020
The Opendoor case follows head of market operations Megan Meyer as her team develops a strategy to enter Los Angeles, a substantial departure from the existing real estate markets the company had worked in through 2018. Particular issues explored include…
E680
Yossi Feinberg , Mitchel Scott, Amadeus Orleans
2020
The case follows the design and creation of a software innovation lab at Volkswagen. Particular issues explored include the role and structure of internal innovation groups, establishing culture and defining business models for innovation, and developing…
E712
Steve Ciesinski, Howie Rosen, Erika Feldhausen
2020
This case describes the development of ALLVP, a Mexico-based venture capital firm, from founding to Fund III. It discusses how Federico Antoni and Fernando Lelo de Larrea, ALLVP’s founders, positioned the firm to address unmet funding needs in Mexico’s…
E697
David Dodson, Erika Feldhausen
2020
This case introduces students to the founding story and growth of Whole Foods, a large grocery chain focused on healthy, organic, and whole foods retailing. The case describes some of the considerations Walter Robb (co-CEO Whole Foods, 2010-2016) faced…
E716
David Dodson
2020
One of the more common mistakes in the hiring process is failing to offer vigilant, clear, and supportive onboarding for new hires. Too often, managers celebrate the moment a candidate accepts an offer but forget that onboarding is as important to…
E718
David Dodson
2020
If you’re committed to excellent leadership, you’ll have to replace employees who aren’t a good fit. Further, a willingness to replace underperformers, or those in the wrong job, sends the message to your organization that you set a high standard for…
E714
David Dodson
2020
One day in 1671, Christopher Wren, at the time the most famous architect in the world, came across three bricklayers working to rebuild St. Paul’s Cathedral after it had burned to the ground following the Great Fire of London. Wren asked them each, “What…
E719
David Dodson
2020
Too often, leaders fail to view compensation through a holistic and strategic lens. Instead, they make compensation decisions ad hoc to solve a single problem, such as making an offer to a candidate, handling a staff member’s request for a company car…
E717
David Dodson
2020
The 360-degree performance review (“the 360”) is a structured feedback process that leaders can use to encourage employee development and strengthen their organizations. Unfortunately, many companies that use this powerful tool fail to realize its full…
E715
David Dodson
2020
An unwillingness to invest the time is the primary reasons people cut corners on the hiring process. Yet, saving time is a poor trade-off. We estimate that the round-trip for an unsuccessful hire—when taking into consideration the time required to…
E682
James Lattin, Kirk Bowman, Erika Feldhausen
2020
This case describes the evolution of the customer success function through the rise of Gainsight. It discusses the responsibilities of the customer success function, measuring and compensating customer success teams, and the return on investment for…
E696
John Glynn, Erika Feldhausen
2020
This case focuses on Cindy Padnos’s and Aileen Lee’s experiences founding their own VC firms. It introduces some of the tradeoffs and challenges facing both founders. In particular, the case highlights some of their early investing experiences as women…
E699
George Foster, Jeffrey Conn
2020
This case provides an overview of the founding and scaling story of British health and wellness company Clinova. The case outlines the fledgling company’s early marketing successes signing up-and-coming athletes and sports franchises, as well as the…
E688
Robert Siegel, Jeffrey Conn
2020
This case describes 23andMe CEO and cofounder Anne Wojcicki’s founding story and her recent attempts to scale the company’s direct-to-consumer genetic testing franchise while simultaneously expanding its pharmaceutical development aspirations.
E690
Robert Chess, Jeffrey Conn
2020
This case examines Nike’s push to develop a sneaker specifically engineered for walking and a luxury apparel line which are both purposefully marketed to an older demographic, a first for the company. The case focuses on legendary sneaker designer Tinker…
E693
Peter Ziebelman, Joseph Golden
2020
The main purpose of the Venus Medtech case is to give students a greater appreciation for the scale, sophistication, and competitiveness of the innovation landscape outside of Silicon Valley, with particular focus on China. Through a dramatized account…
E703
Robert Chess, Joseph Golden
2020
This case considers the state of telehealth, or the remote delivery of healthcare services via telecommunications technology, in 2019. Doctor On Demand, a promising start-up in the space, sought to solve the four main challenges that the telehealth…
E701
Russell Siegelman, Laura Hattendorf, Mitchel Scott
2020
The case follows Erica Mackey, CEO of early childhood education impact venture MyVillage, as she determines the growth path of the company after a recent fundraise. Particular issues explored include tensions between growth and mission, defining and…
E704
Robert Chess, Milana Shapira
2020
Moshe Pinto, CEO, and Darin Buxbaum, COO, sat in their small conference room in Redwood City in what used to be the training facility for the San Francisco 49’ers. It had been four years since they had embarked on solving one of the biggest unaddressed…
SM329
Yossi Feinberg, Jeffrey Conn
2019
This case describes the transformation of the UK’s oldest financial services franchise from a product-aligned and brick-and-mortar traditional banking institution to a customer-aligned and digital-first technology organization. The case parallels Lloyds’…
E691
Amy Wilkinson, Blake Kavanaugh
2019
In 2019, Eve Burton, Chairwoman of HearstLab and Chief Legal Officer at Hearst Corporation, knew that HearstLab was at a key inflection point for growth—with opportunities to take on additional capital and expand internationally.
HearstLab is an…
E707
Stephen Ciesinski, Howard Rosen, Blake Kavanaugh
2019
Nico Shea founded Cumplo in 2011 to enable peer-to-peer lending for consumers before changing the company’s focus to small-to-medium businesses (SMBs). Cumplo was a financial technology (“fintech”) company that provided a platform for SMBs applying for a…
E695
John Glynn, Erika Feldhausen
2019
This case introduces students to the history of women in the venture capital industry. It explores the impact of gender diversity on both company performance and fund returns, describes the lack of funding for female founders, and highlights examples of…
E666
Stephen Ciesinski, Jeffrey Conn
2019
This case provides an overview of the founding and scaling of Chinese artificial intelligence-enabled adaptive learning company Squirrel AI. The case details founder Derek Haoyang Li’s struggles to build and scale a comprehensive cutting-edge product and…
