Founders of Rocket Learning, an India-based nonprofit which focused on early childhood education (ECE), received an invitation from MIT's Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (JPAL), a development research organization, to test its intervention for ECE with a randomized controlled trial (RCT), the gold standard of impact evidence. Rocket Learning used classroom WhatsApp groups to provide parents access to byte-sized learning activities to help their children prepare for school. Since its launch in June 2020, Rocket Learning had reached over 50,000 low-income children in three states of India, in partnership with district and state governments. Though encouraged by the positive feedback from parents and teachers, the co-founders did not yet have evidence that Rocket Learning improved educational outcomes for early learners. They were elated to get the offer for a RCT in October 2020 but wondered whether the timing was right for the trial. After all, Rocket Learning was only five months old. Were the founders ready to do a largescale, rigorous evaluation and share the results publicly? If the results were negative, would it impact scaling? The founding team did not have much time in hand to decide.
The setting for this case is the Sian Flowers, a company headquartered in Kitengela, Kenya that exports roses to predominantly Europe. Because cut flowers have a limited shelf life and consumers want them to retain their appearance for as long as possible, Sian or its distributors used international air cargo to transport them to Amsterdam, where they were sold at auction or trucked to markets across Europe. The Covid-19 pandemic caused huge increases in the cost of shipping, so Sian launched experiments to ship roses by ocean using refrigerated containers. Chris Kulei, the Executive Director, was interested in not only the potential costs savings, but whether he could also market the reduced carbon footprint.
In late June of 2022, Sonja Perkins, co-founder of Broadway Angels, contemplated the group's future. She and her co-founders, Jennifer Fonstad, and Magdalena Yesil, started the group to gather together the most successful and powerful women in venture capital and technology with the mission to build a powerful network, showcase top female talent, inspire more women to enter VC and entrepreneurship, and make great investments. Overall, she was pleased with their progress toward their mission but still felt that gender equity in VC was slow to happen. She considered several different ways the group could expand its impact.
In December 2012, Altos Ventures General Partners Han Kim, Anthony Lee, and Ho Nam met to discuss the future of the firm. Altos had already adjusted its strategy multiple times. It began as a U.S.-focused venture capital investor whose first two funds were backed by a sole limited partner, a South Korean financial conglomerate. In late 2001, the partners made their first transformative decision, raising a fund from traditional institutional LPs to focus on bootstrapped technology companies. In 2008, Altos again refined its strategy, this time to fund similar capital-efficient companies but with more "explosive growth" potential. Now, in 2012, the firm was running out of capital and did not have the realized track record to raise another traditional institutional fund. They considered two options: raise a South Korea-focused VC fund or offer more co-investment opportunities to LPs through a "mini" fund. What should Altos do to stay afloat?
In December 2021, Han Kim, Anthony Lee, and Ho Nam reflected on how far they had come since 2012. This B case provides an update on Altos Ventures' decision-making and performance since the events presented in the A case.
The case highlights the journey of a digital gold loan start-up which offers low interest rates, doorstep service, speedy documentation, locker and quick gold withdrawal features to customers looking for a gold loan. This enables the customers to eliminate the fear of social stigma associated with gold loans and complete the formalities from the comfort of their home. The case also talks about the nature of the organized and unorganized gold loan markets. It stresses the relevance of a secure, guaranteed and affordable gold loan structure in a market where interest rates are skyrocketing and customers can easily wind up with unsustainable levels of debt, especially in unorganised gold loan markets.
On April 12, 2018, Zuora listed on NYSE under the ticker symbol ZUO, becoming a publicly traded company at a valuation of $1.4 billion. The software company had achieved fast growth in the rapidly expanding subscription economy-and was poised to differentiate itself from the pack by serving both incumbents and disruptors. A subscription company itself, Zuora provided the billing products fueling the rapid growth of the subscription economy. The path ahead meant facing the challenge of innovating to meet an increasingly complex customer base, and rapidly growing companies like Zoom. But sustaining existing customer relationships-in addition to acquiring new customers-was critical for every SaaS company, and Zuora was no exception. The growth leading to the IPO was a clear indicator of the value Zuora's software products provided to customers. How would Zuora differentiate itself from competitors and enhance its subscription business model, but also retain long-time customers by easing the integration of new offerings with legacy enterprise resource planning applications? This ability to compete, to differentiate, and to continue to drive customer success meant it was time for a new blueprint for Zuora's next steps.
Autodesk's new CEO launched three strategic initiatives that would transform the company into a global leader in software products and services for architecture, engineering, and construction. The company would be a customer-centric organization, with the new technologies and apps its customers demanded. How would the company meet the challenge of customer expectations-and their fears about shifting to cloud-native solutions? After all, different customer segments were likely to have distinctly different expectations-but delighting customers with next-generation cloud solutions would power their operations, as well as Autodesk's growth. At the same time, how would Autodesk balance old and new products, and make the transition seamless? This would involve an internal cultural shift, as engineers generally preferred to write new code, and take on new challenges, vs. leveraging existing code. But shared services-in which teams leveraged common, existing services to save time, ensure quality, and move fast-were critical to development the new platforms. As the Autodesk CEO commented, "Perceptions change lightning fast, but it takes a lot longer for people to change."
The traditional performance management process does not provide good data and inspire employees to perform better. We need to move on to a new way of measuring and accelerating performance. The first step to a better system is to remove the common practices that cause so much strife: no mandated goals, complicated rating approaches, or strictly annual performance conversations. We also need to stop collecting and using unreliable, stale data to inform downstream talent decisions.
Within a decade, Apple twice changed its mind about where the boundaries of the firm should lie. In 2010 the company introduced an Apple-designed custom "system on a chip" (SoC) for its iPhone and iPad products, which replaced non-customized Samsung chips. Then in 2020, Apple announced that it would end its 15-year partnership with Intel and begin designing the microprocessors inside its new Mac computers. This was the second time Apple had switched microprocessors in its computers. From 1994 to 2005, Apple computers ran on IBM PowerPC microprocessors, which were incompatible with the dominant Intel x86 chip architecture. At the time, Apple had only a 4 percent share of the personal computer market. In 2005, the company announced it would switch its Mac computers to Intel chips to take advantage of Intel's industry-standard architecture and superior product roadmap, which would enable Apple to build the products it envisioned. In November 2020, Apple unveiled three Mac computers that used its new custom M1 processor. Apple's custom chip contained numerous special-purpose accelerators that enabled performance and capabilities not accessible with off-the-shelf chips. As it did when it switched to Intel microprocessors, Apple provided software emulation technology that enabled existing Intel-based apps to run on the new Macs until they were updated to work with the new Apple chips. Huawei and Samsung had developed custom SoCs for their smartphones, but no other personal computer company followed Apple's path.
dotin.in was a technology start-up founded by Ganesh Iyer in California, a spin-off from a product venture incubated by Cisco Systems created to solve the attraction and retention of talent. Leveraging their understanding of artificial intelligence (AI), natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning (ML) techniques, dotin incorporated the motivation science developed from the Color Munsell Theory. The insights of individual motivations are assessed through a quick 60-second color preference assessment based on Holland's vocational personality type, Gardner's multiple intelligence theory, and the Color Munsell System. It also incorporated an assessment of learning style to develop individual fit reports for specific job roles. dotin then based their report of fit based on a standard job competency dictionary of ONET taxonomy. The patented product was proposed as an end-to-end solution for talent management. dotin appealed to the recruiter community by providing a large database of potential candidates comprising passive job seekers. This database was developed by accessing and stitching together applicant information from multiple data sources, compliant with data privacy norms and laws. Recruiters could then connect with these passive applicants and invite them for specific job opportunities. If the applicant evinced interest, they responded to a one-minute color motivation patented assessment. The emerging analysis delivered a comprehensive functional (skill) fit, motivation and behavior, and preferred learning style. The resulting report offered insights to recruiters who hire internal and external talent. By assessing the fit and suitability for future roles, organizations could make informed data-based decisions on the potential capability of their talent and succession pipelines. The dotin assessment suggests appropriate development interventions to develop future leaders based on individual learning styles and motivation.
The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF) is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) headquartered in Bengaluru, India. It was founded by ISKON (religious foundation) in the year 2000 and runs the world's largest school meal program that was serving 1.8 Million children every day in 2019. In March 2020, however, as the COVID-19 pandemic struck India, the schools were shut and hence the mid-day meals were stopped. This gave rise to not only a new challenge of still continuing to feed the underprivileged children but also gave rise to different needs such as relief feeding for poor families and migrant workers. The foundation has a mission is to feed five million children every day in the near future and are challenged in not only how to scale up but also how to sustain their operations and growth (both in terms of capital expenditure and operating expenditure), specially considering that the government subsidisation of their meals (as a fraction of the total cost per meal) is only reducing.
In May 2022, the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) launched the pilot of Metaverse Seoul, a government-run metaverse. SMG had delivered a virtual version of Seoul's mayor's office. The team aimed to gain insights as they worked towards building a broad, immersive, online government platform. They'd invited citizen feedback in many ways, including via a virtual mailbox and bulletin board placed prominently around the corner from where an avatar of the mayor could greet visitors and preside over gatherings. Now, public comments were coming in and the team had to decide what to make of them.
Birla Carbon, a flagship business of the nearly $60-billion global conglomerate and India-headquartered Aditya Birla Group (ABG), is one of the world's top manufacturers and suppliers of high-quality carbon black. The largest among its 16 manufacturing plants is Birla Carbon Egypt (BCE), situated in the port city of Alexandria. BCE started its operations in 1994, to become the first carbon black manufacturing unit in Egypt and the Middle East. Over three decades it has grown to become a leading exporter in the region, playing a significant role in the Egyptian economy. However, the journey has not been without its challenges as BCE has tackled political unrest and frequent changes in government, besides growing concerns about pollution. Given Egypt's recent volatile political history, would BCE be able to successfully continue to separate business from politics? More broadly, what would BCE's success or failure mean on a global scale? As India seeks to grow into a great power, how would its economic footprint abroad distinguish it from other great powers? Could BCE represent a new, Indian version of FDI?
In 1898, two Black entrepreneurs from Durham, North Carolina-barber John Merrick and medical doctor Aaron McDuffie Moore-put pen to paper and founded the North Carolina Mutual and Provident Association (the Mutual). They would soon be joined by a third partner-an energetic young salesman named Charles Clinton Spaulding. This "triumvirate" faced long odds. While there was a long tradition of Black mutual aid societies-religious organizations that charged dues and paid members a small sum in the event of a death or emergency-operating a for-profit insurance company catering to the Black community presented several challenges. By the 1890s, an increasing number of Southern Blacks had the resources to afford a basic life insurance policy, but few had experience buying life insurance or knew why it was necessary.
In May 2021, Warner Bros. Discovery was created as a merger of AT&T's WarnerMedia division with Discovery Inc. In mid-2022, this company would begin to operate as a standalone company, led by CEO David Zaslav and a 13-person board of directors. In this case, students will learn about the competitive dynamics driving the media industry, the major players, and the M&A process.
In January 2020, two social entrepreneurs were looking back at the first five years of operation of their venture JioVio Healthcare. The entrpreneurs had designed, developed, and implemented their cloud-based Internet of Things software Savemom. Using feedback from key stakeholders, Savemom assisted in the early detection of preventable complications during pregnancy and safe delivery, especially for expectant mothers in rural India, with a goal to reduce India's maternal mortality ratio (MMR). Using an iterative process, Senthilkumar collaborated with various stakeholders in central and southern parts of rural India to enhance and implement the Savemom software. To achieve the socially-conscious goal behind the Savemom software, the team developed a wearable device for use by each expectant mother, as well as a medical measurement device and an online platform for healthcare providers to access the health information of patients. After several iterations of prototypes based on process outcomes and feedback from stakeholders, the Savemom software, devices, and process seemed to have achieved its ultimate goal. But when one of the entrepreneurs visited doctors to get their feedback, they expressed great dissatisfaction with the vast amount of patient information to check each day on the portal, which was increasing their workload almost ten times. The two social entrepreneurs had to find a way to address the genuine issues the doctors had raised.
USV Private Limited (USV), an Indian pharmaceutical company, launched three comparative advertising campaigns for its Sebamed cleansing bar in January 2021, targeting the soap bars of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) based on the bars’ pH values. Without delay, HUL filed a lawsuit against USV on grounds of disparaging its brands, infringing upon its trademarks, and misleading of consumers. The Bombay High Court restrained USV from continuing with the campaigns, but later vacated that order and delivered another order that permitted USV to continue with one of the three campaigns, directed modifications for the other two, and restrained the company from categorizing soaps as “safe” and “not safe” based on their pH values. HUL eventually began a campaign to refute the pH rationale used in USV’s advertisements. USV now had questions to consider: Would consumers buy its Sebamed cleansing bar for the bar’s “ideal” pH level as communicated in the ads, or was it time to change its advertising strategy?