個案總覽

Neverfail Computing, a high-potential start-up, links 4F (founders, family, friends, and foolhardy) funding and formal venture capital. Neverfail Computing has a proven team with a proven lead entrepreneur. The company is in an exciting market niche in a rapidly growing technology--RAID (Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks) hot-pluggable, fault-tolerant, SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) hard-drive disk arrays. It is the kind of high-potential venture that attracts venture capitalists.

John Esler, founder and CEO of Patio Rooms of America, founded this new venture a few months after graduating from Babson's one-year MBA program. Before studying for his MBA, Esler had substantial entrepreneurial experience that included founding and building a chain of Subway sandwich stores. He sold his chain of stores before entering the MBA program and used the proceeds to finance his studies and to underwrite the startup of his new venture. Six months into the new venture, John is experiencing a host of problems: the company's sales orders are outstripping the rate at which crews can construct patio rooms; his operating cash flow deficit is growing; he has to resolve serious disagreements with his licensor, who is also his exclusive supplier of material; and he has control and human resource issues that urgently need attention.