Case Studies

By 2014, Palantir Technologies, a fast growing Silicon Valley company with global impact at the heart of its mission, had spent several years donating the same software to nonprofits that it sold to commercial customers to help solve some of the world’s…

Stephanie Collett sighed as she tried to focus on her laptop.  It was late at night shortly before Christmas 2012, and she had spent hours trying to make the math work on a struggling apartment complex.  Although she had no training or background in real…

The CareMessage case describes the evolution of the nonprofit organization from its founding in 2012 through the end of 2014.  CareMessage was launched by Vineet Singal, a young biological sciences graduate from Stanford University.  Having dealt with his…

The Off Grid Electric case focuses on the creation, growth, and financing of the company from 2011 through the middle of 2014.  The three cofounders saw an opportunity to provide solar electricity to much of Africa through their solar-as-a-service…

In November 2012, the Greek economy was on the precipice of collapse. Antonis Samaras, Greece’s newly elected Prime Minister, faced a difficult decision regarding the harsh terms of austerity proposed by the European Commission, European Central Bank, and…

The Year Up case deals with two ubiquitous issues that arise when managing a growing enterprise: an organization will outgrow systems; and it will outgrow employees.  Year Up, led by CEO Gerald Chertavian, provided education, training, and job…

The AlphaCredit case features Augusto Álvarez and José Luis Orozco, founders and co-CEOs of AlphaCredit, a rapidly growing financial services company in Mexico City.  Using two primary vignettes, the case highlights three challenges faced by Álvarez and…

Launched in 2007, SeaMicro developed one of the most innovative server products to hit the market in over a decade.  The SM10000 consumed one-quarter the power and space of conventional server products, thereby addressing a significant and growing pain…

The most important job of a manager is to hire great people―yet in the United States, one-third of all outside hires do not meet expectations.  A company’s success rate in hiring new employees can increase significantly by following best practices crafted…

Zintro, Stuart Lewtan’s second start-up, just completed a round of financing that was intended to fund a rebuild of the site’s user interface and provide Lewtan the cash needed to hire a first-rate senior management team.  But the hiring process had not…

Revenue Works tells the story of Mike Sutherland and how he grew the search fund company he acquired from $5 million to over $150 million in revenue. After growing the company with debt and returning dividends to investors through leveraged…

This case addresses some of the leadership challenges faced by Amy Errett, the CEO of a two-year-old startup, Madison Reed.  Madison Reed is an online hair care company delivering non-toxic hair color to thousands of women throughout the United States. …

The Torani case tells the story of a 90-year-old company founded in San Francisco by two Italian-Americans, Rinaldo and Ezilda Torre.  In 1925, the Torres visited family in Luca, Italy, and brought back with them recipes for homemade flavored syrups which…

This case explores the Branch Metrics’ cofounders’ early days as a team and their pursuit of a viable idea for their startup. The three original cofounders, who met in business school, transformed their business concept entirely several times before…

What is Bitcoin?  How does it work?  Why is the technology so innovative, and what are Bitcoin’s potential use cases, specifically within Africa?  This case describes the potential for Bitcoin to transform and leapfrog traditional banking infrastructure…

Atmel Corporation is a manufacturer of semiconductors (chips). It is an engineering-driven business-to-business company, and prior to 2012 its marketing was largely limited to preparation of specifications, launching new products, and trade shows. In 2012…

This case outlines the fundraising history of Marin Software.  The case discusses the events that led up to the initial public offering (IPO) and the tumultuous aftermath of the stock going public.  This case examines who were the winners and losers from…

This case outlines the fundraising struggles faced by ASTRO Gaming.  The gaming company produced a best in class product that grew strongly but faced difficulties fundraising. The cash flow short fall left the company with limited options.  The founders…

The TourMonkey case and Wello case describe two start-ups that chose to sell to strategic acquirers within the first few years of operation.  Both of these companies had good ideas, strong teams, hard-working founders, and other attributes that helped…

The Wello case and TourMonkey case describe two start-ups that chose to sell to strategic acquirers within the first few years of operation.  Both of these companies had good ideas, strong teams, hard-working founders, and other attributes that helped…

Sarah would soon graduate from Stanford GSB, and had received entry-level job offers from a number of wealth management firms.  A tech-savvy Millennial, she wanted a career that would provide both intellectual challenges and a healthy work/life balance. …

The case follows PayPal, a digital payments platform that found early success processing online payments for purchases on eBay, which acquired the company in 2002.  The case begins by describing the decision by eBay in 2014 to spin off PayPal and the…

The Dawn Lepore case presents a series of dilemmas that one woman, Dawn Lepore, deals with in her professional career that present her with a series of challenging issues. The case starts off with background (to be read before class) about Dawn’s early…

The Dawn Lepore case presents a series of dilemmas that one woman, Dawn Lepore, deals with in her professional career that present her with a series of challenging issues.  The case starts off with background (to be read before class) about Dawn’s early…