個案總覽

In July 2012, the cofounders of CloudFlare, a Silicon Valley startup that protects websites and accelerates their traffic, are considering the implications of five employees' resignations over the prior three months. Was this natural attrition for a high-tech venture with a staff of 35 experiencing explosive growth, or were the resignations symptomatic of bigger issues with CloudFlare's culture and management processes? After describing CloudFlare's early history, business model, organization structure, and human resources policies, the case presents first-person accounts from employees regarding their reasons for resigning, and then asks whether CloudFlare's cofounders should take any corrective actions.

MuMate, a fictional cult beverage company, requires capital to fund national expansion. Its cofounders, who have bootstrapped to this point, are now negotiating with venture capital firms to raise a $3 million funding round. The case describes MuMaté's inception, early history, business model, and factors that have fueled its rapid recent growth. As the case ends, the cofounders are debating whether to raise funds from VCs, angels, or asset-based lenders. The cofounders share their concerns about valuation and whether investors will seek to change the company's strategy and organizational culture.

MuMate, a fictional cult beverage company, requires capital to fund national expansion. Its cofounders, who have bootstrapped to this point, are now negotiating with venture capital firms to raise a $3 million funding round. The case describes MuMate's inception, early history, business model, and factors that have fueled its rapid recent growth. As the case ends, the cofounders are debating whether to raise funds from VCs, angels, or asset-based lenders. The cofounders share their concerns about valuation and whether investors will seek to change the company's strategy and organizational culture.

MuMate, a fictional cult beverage company, requires capital to fund national expansion. Its cofounders, who have bootstrapped to this point, are now negotiating with venture capital firms to raise a $3 million funding round. The case describes MuMate's inception, early history, business model, and factors that have fueled its rapid recent growth. As the case ends, the cofounders are debating whether to raise funds from VCs, angels, or asset-based lenders. The cofounders share their concerns about valuation and whether investors will seek to change the company's strategy and organizational culture.

In mid-2012 Lit Motors had created both engineering and design prototypes and conducted initial customer tests on less than $750,000 of investment. Lit Motors' founder, Daniel Kim had started the company to design and manufacture an efficient electric 2-wheeled vehicle. The company had refined the designs for the key technologies required and had a working prototype, an understanding of the manufacturing processes to be used and a list of the components required. They also had a design prototype that they had used to conduct customer tests and establish reactions to pricing levels. At this point, management was aiming to raise $15M to get closer to manufacturing prototypes, but had they sufficiently proved out both the manufacturing feasibility and the market demand? How could they address the next hurdles in terms of partnership building, supply chain management and go-to-market strategy?

The "Andrew Sullivan and Faraway Ltd" case series focuses on entrepreneurial selling, and is based on an older case study, "Deaver Brown and Cross River Inc." (9-394-042). It concerns two entrepreneurs, Andrew Sullivan and Hope Abasi, who have designed an innovative pushchair (baby stroller) and, a year later, are looking for an order from a large retailer. The case requires students to prepare, deliver, and evaluate Sullivan's sales calls on two important retail buyers, Sam Cartwright of Mothercare and Anthony Pierce of John Lewis. The main case provides relevant background information about Faraway's market opportunity, business model economics, and scaling requirements. The (B) case provides information about Sam Cartwright's view of his job and supplier issues. The (C) case does the same for Anthony Pierce.

Supplement for case 813104

Supplement for case 813104