E470
Andrew Rachleff, Sara Rosenthal
2013
The Airbnb case describes the very early days of this startup, beginning with the founders’ original concept of renting out air beds and serving breakfast (“Airbed and Breakfast”) in their apartment to conference attendees as an alternative to expensive…
GS61B
David Hoyt, Hau Lee, Michael Marks
2013
This is an update to GS-61, describing developments at the company through 2011, including a major acquisition, distribution in China, and an initiative to cultivate start-ups that might grow into future clients.
GS79
Hau L. Lee, Sonali Rammohan
2013
Before opening its first store in India in 1996, McDonald’s spent six years building its supply chain. During that time, the company worked to successfully source as many ingredients as possible from India. However, French fries (“MacFries”) were a…
E433
Robert Chess, Sara Rosenthal
2013
The Sunrun case profiles the evolution of this residential solar financing startup, focusing on the company’s hypergrowth during its early years. The case begins with Sunrun’s launch by two GSB graduates, Ed Fenster and Lynn Jurich, together with one of…
F285
Michael Kennedy, Debra McCoy, William Meehan III, Paul Pfleiderer
2013
The Global Environment Fund (GEF) is a private equity fund focused on investments in environmental and energy solutions in both developed and developing markets. The fund is currently examining the strategy of one of its portfolio companies–NEOgás, a…
F308
George Parker, Alan Rappaport, Jaclyn Foroughi
2013
Richard Lund had reached an important crossroads in his life. At age 65, Lund had had a great deal of success—and amassed much wealth—but he needed to devise a plan for the future. Namely, he needed to figure out what to do with the wealth of which he was…
IB106
Glenn Carroll, Debra Schrifin, David Brady
2013
The case discusses Nike’s sustainability and labor practices from 1998 to 2013, focusing on the successful steps Nike took up and down the supply chain and in its headquarters to make its products and processes more environmentally friendly, and the…
E449
Ilya Strebulaev, Hornblower Jocelyn
2012
This case tells the story of OPENLANE and CEO Peter Kelly’s history with the company, from its founding in 1999 to its potential sale in 2011. The case describes the early stages of the company, the impacts of various economic downturns on the business…
E446
H. Irving Grousbeck, Arar Han, Sara Rosenthal
2012
Since 1996, the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies (CES) at the Stanford Graduate School of Business has conducted a series of studies on the performance of search funds. This study, as well as its predecessors in 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, and…
P81A
Steven Callander, David Hoyt
2012
This case recounts Uber’s experience in four cities at different points in time. This approach offers a way to examine Uber’s strategy for market entry and evaluate the performance of that strategy in these four cities, as well as elsewhere in the world…
M354
Jennifer Aaker, Maile Lesica, Barbara McCarthy, Tina Sharkey, Tamsin Smith
2012
Stories drive almost everything we do, whether it is the motivation for why we raise our children a certain way, or the backstory for choosing one product over another at the grocery store. In ways that logical arguments and data are not, stories are…
E426A
Michael Child, Sara Rosenthal
2012
The Tiny Prints case describes the founding of the online stationery company in 2004, through its growth and evolution to 2007. The three cofounders bootstrapped the company from the beginning, primarily so that they could retain control over the…
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…
