SI39B
Rick Aubry, Davina Drabkin
2012
Paul Rice knew that Fair Trade could do more, much more. While the model had benefited approximately 10 million people in developing countries, they were a small percentage of the 2 billion people worldwide who lived on less than $2 day. Fair Trade was…
SM203
William Meehan III, Georgia Koehane
2012
Since its founding in 1980, Ashoka: Innovators for the Public had supported the work of over 3,000 of the world’s most visionary social entrepreneurs; men and women who, in Ashoka founder Bill Drayton’s words, are tireless pioneers of “system-changing…
P81
Steven Callander, David Hoyt
2012
Uber, which began operations in 2010, provided a service that allowed customers to call for a limousine using their mobile device. A car would arrive within minutes, and the fee for the trip (including gratuity) would be charged to the customer’s credit…
E458
H. Grousbeck, Austin Kiessig
2012
The Trunk Club case begins with a description of the company’s business model and the path that led the main protagonist, Brian Spaly, to the CEO post. Four vignettes compose the main body of the case. The first vignette outlines a series of challenges…
E456
H. Grousbeck, Sara Rosenthal
2012
The case profiles Gregg Renfrew, the CEO and founder of Beautycounter, a non-toxic cosmetics company set to launch in January 2013. After developing a personal passion for the non-toxic goods space, Gregg decides in 2010 to launch her own company. She…
E443
R. Ellis, Arar Han, Kevin Taweel
2012
It was Smith & Company Worldwide Managing Director Bob Martin’s habit while traveling to rise at 5 am and make his way over to a treadmill at the hotel gym, where he would mentally prepare for the day ahead. Today was no different. As the machine at the J…
E442
Arar Han, Ilya A. Strebulaev
2012
Angel investment in new technology firms has grown in prominence and popularity in the 21st century, particularly in the Silicon Valley. This case reviews the landscape of angel investors, describes the decision making process of an angel consortium…
E440
Arar Han, Ilya A. Strebulaev
2012
The world of early-stage financing has undergone many changes over the years. In this note, we first document the historical roots of early-stage investors, and describe important milestones along the developmental path. We then describe the types of…
E439
H. Grousbeck, Arar Han
2012
Huntington University was a distinguished not-for-profit academic institution in the United States whose endowment grew from $7 billion to nearly $20 billion over the course of a decade. The funds prompted a variety of development projects. New funds, new…
E436D
Arar Han, Russell Siegelman
2012
“Social media is disrupting politics in fundamental ways. For the first time, voters can join with one another and connect with their officials directly at a scale that is unprecedented. We believe that facilitating meaningful connection will result in a…
E436B
Arar Han, Russell Siegelman
2012
“Social media is disrupting politics in fundamental ways. For the first time, voters can join with one another and connect with their officials directly at a scale that is unprecedented. We believe that facilitating meaningful connection will result in a…
E436C
Arar Hanr, Russell Siegelman
2012
“Social media is disrupting politics in fundamental ways. For the first time, voters can join with one another and connect with their officials directly at a scale that is unprecedented. We believe that facilitating meaningful connection will result in a…
E436A
Arar Han, Russell Siegelman
2012
Social media is disrupting politics in fundamental ways. For the first time, voters can join with one another and connect with their officials directly at a scale that is unprecedented. We believe that facilitating meaningful connection will result in a…
E435C
Arar Han, Russell Siegelman
2012
Sociable Labs was conceived as a start-up business attempting to use friend recommendations to curate and recommend purchase opportunities on the internet. Much as his Facebook social events app helped friends discover events based on their friends’…
E435B
Arar Han, Russell Siegelman
2012
Sociable Labs was conceived as a start-up business attempting to use friend recommendations to curate and recommend purchase opportunities on the internet. Much as his Facebook social events app helped friends discover events based on their friends’…
E435A
Arar Han, Russell Siegelman
2012
Sociable Labs was conceived as a start-up business attempting to use friend recommendations to curate and recommend purchase opportunities on the internet. Much as his Facebook social events app helped friends discover events based on their friends’…
E432
Jeffrey Chambers, Michael Child, Arar Han
2012
George Hausman, co-founder and CEO of Pleasanton, California-based Refresh Organics (fictional), was proud of the business he had built over the past 15 years. Along with a minority partner, Hausman had started Refresh as a distributor of organic produce…
E423
Jeffrey Chambers, Michael Child, R. Ellis, Arar Han
2012
Bigpoint was a leading online gaming company with vast international operations. One country that it wanted to enter was the United States, where existing players EA and Zynga, as well as dominant social gaming platforms and the Apple App Store posed…
E419
Jeffrey Chambers, Michael Child, Arar Han
2012
TwinMed was a nursing home supply business located in Los Angeles. This case details its humble origins and its development, and raises several strategic issues prevalent in Medicare-reimbursed businesses, business-to-business selling, and what to do when…
E414
Arar Han, Haim Mendelson
2012
Prototypes allow you to consider and test your product or service concept quickly and at low cost, and they play an important role in the development of new ventures. This quick introduction elaborates on the concept and illustrates the use of prototypes…
E411B
George Foster, Arar Han
2012
Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), which began play in March 2009, rose from the ashes of the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA), a league that played its third and final season in 2003. After WUSA failed under the mounting pressure of flagging…
E411A
George Foster, Arar Han
2012
Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), which began play in March 2009, rose from the ashes of the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA), a league that played its third and final season in 2003. After WUSA failed under the mounting pressure of flagging…
E410
George Foster, Sara Rosenthal
2012
FullBloom Baking Company was started in 1989 by Karen Trilevsky to provide wholesome, all-natural and delicious baked goods to coffee shops in and around San Francisco, California. Over the last 20-plus years, FullBloom has grown to $35 million in…
E407
Arar Han, Charles Holloway, John Morgridge
2012
Venture capitalist Atul Kapadia was inclined to provide seed funding for Sujeet Kumar and Michael Sinkula to found Envia Systems, a lithium-ion battery company. Admittedly, Envia was little more than the founders’ vision of an affordable electric vehicle…
