Blockchain pioneer Stellar Development Foundation oversees one of the earliest and largest crypto networks (Stellar) and the management of its native token XLM. The foundation partnered with cross-border payments provider MoneyGram to help on and off-ramp cryptocurrencies between the Stellar Network and cash. In one case, the partnership enabled the United Nations to distribute funds to refugees.
Founded in 2010, Supercell was a Helsinki, Finland-based mobile gaming company that had developed and launched five global hit mobile games: Clash of Clans, Clash Royale, Hay Day, Brawl Stars, and Boom Beach. The company's early philosophy was that it could produce hits by designing the company with a structure and culture that would prove compelling to the world's top developer talent. Developers worked in small, autonomous groups called cells with little oversight. The formula was a success. Supercell had nearly $2 billion in annual revenues, and Clash of Clans alone had generated gross revenues of over $10 billion since inception. However, the company had not released a hit game in five years. In early 2022, Paananen asked in a blog post whether Supercell's best days were behind it. As a result, in summer 2023, he and Supercell's leadership decided to restructure the company into two divisions-New Games and Live Games. The New Game cells would retain the small team structures, which were largely flat and non-hierarchical, but the Live Game cells would add more traditional structure and hierarchy to exploit franchise hits. Now, Paananen wondered if Supercell could continue to attract top talent despite its shift to more traditional ways of managing the business. As importantly, what would it take to restore the company's winning streak by originating more new games and growing its global blockbusters?
Levels is a highly innovative startup in the health care space. They intend to revolutionize health by linking behavior-eating, exercise, sleeping, etc.-to changes in metabolism. They believe metabolic health can be managed through careful monitoring of changes in variables like blood glucose levels using digital monitors. The company is, however, more interesting for its management model and organization structure. Founded prior to Covid, Levels is a 'native remote' company. All the management processes are designed to function without employees regularly interacting face-to-face. There is a great emphasis on information being prepared to support asynchronously. The company makes extensive use of tools that allow employees to generate effective content. It also practices radical transparency internally and externally, with the vast majority of its strategic documents, research agenda and product development agenda accessible freely to outsiders. Even more interestingly, the work process are designed to maximize employees' opportunity to engage in 'deep work.' Deep work is a concept associated with the writing of Georgetown computer scientist, Cal Newport. It is based on the premise that humans are singularly bad at context shifting and that they require extended period during which they can apply themselves to difficult tasks without interruption or distraction. The Levels management model minimizes the number of meetings (i.e., no more than two a week for most people, many of those optional), real time communities, etc. Levels adherence to a native remote/deep work model provides a fascinating basis for evaluating innovative management structures and the challenges in running a distributed workforce.
The case presents the founding vision and early days of a young startup that seeks to empower delivery drivers with tools and transparency. The company's flagship mobile app has been taken up by tens of thousands of delivery drivers across major U.S. cities who use it as a single-point to accept or reject gigs from multiple sources and map their routes. At the same time, the app has sparked the ire of major delivery services, who are concerned Para disintermediates drivers from their platforms. Para's founders look to the future and believe that there is a win-win outcome.
Silicon Valley-veteran Shaun Stewart is the CEO of NewLab, a dynamic technology hub headquartered in the storied Brooklyn Navy Yard. Founded in 2016, NewLab fostered a community of entrepreneurs, corporate and government partners, and investors, all seeking to apply cutting-edge technology to solving global problems at scale. Stewart has expanded the business beyond the early membership subscription model to now include corporate partnerships, a venture studio, and an investor network. Partnerships include the likes of Ford, Verizon, and IBM, as well as civic organizations like NY State, and various nonprofits and academic institutions. Stewart contemplates the opportunities and the bottlenecks he now faces as he seeks to further expand NewLab.
LooksRare launched a decentralized and anonymous organization to compete against NFT marketplace leader OpenSea. By launching its own cryptocurrency, LooksRare attempted to lure users with a digital rewards program. The nature of the organization and its business model, however, brought challenges that are unique to the blockchain industry.
Chia Network developed a novel blockchain platform that was more eco-friendly, decentralized, and scalable than Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other blockchains. Now, company leadership must decide how to scale the startup and prioritize various partnerships, use cases, and markets.
Zipline established the world's largest logistics network in Rwanda and Ghana by delivering medical supplies to hospitals via automated drones. The company is now looking to expand in the U.S. and partnered with Walmart to expand into home delivery. Zipline must navigate the U.S. regulatory space while prioritizing its growth opportunities domestically and abroad.
In the first half of 2020, worldwide lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic brought explosive growth to the Zoom Video Communications platform, as people replaced in-person work and social events with videoconferencing. Months into the pandemic, CEO Eric Yuan reflects on his company's newly central role in society, and considers how to leverage the platform's broad adoption into sustainable future growth. The case also discusses Zoom's internal culture -- which prioritized employee and customer happiness -- as well how both the company and its customers faced the transition to remote work.
Founded in 2012, Skillz offered a platform for mobile app developers to monetize skill-based games via prized tournaments. Skillz had over 20,000 registered developers that had created thousands of Skillz-powered games played by over 30 million registered users (gamers). A successful gamer could make hundreds of thousands of dollars playing competitive games of skill. The company had a gross marketplace volume of almost $1 billion in 2019 and over 250 employees primarily in San Francisco, California and Portland, Oregon. CEO Andrew Paradise challenged his leadership team to explore options for accelerating growth.
Algorithmic networking startup Lunchclub coordinates in-person meetings between professionals who would have been unlikely to meet. The company faces marketplace design, growth, and monetization challenges: The executive team has to refine Lunchclub's marketplace strategy, and determine whether the company should continue to focus on its current use cases and geographical hubs or expand the platform's scale and scope. And while Lunchclub unlocks significant value by brokering new connections, the team still has to identify whom to charge and how.
A founder looks back at the issues at play in the final year of failed furniture e-commerce startup, Dot & Bo. He shares his perspective and learnings in the aftermath.
The case explores Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse's mission to disrupt the global payments industry by leveraging the cryptocurrency XRP. Students will learn about Bitcoin and the blockchain industry, as well as Ripple's unique crypto business model. The case provides an opportunity to navigate the areas of distributed technology, platforms, regulation, and global payments, from the perspective of a San Francisco software startup with over $20 billion in digital assets.
In 2018, Nick Molnar, the founder of the Australia-based online payment service Afterpay began its expansion to the U.S. market. The service had gained a loyal following in Australia by enabling customers to pay for online purchases through four interest-free installments. Customer advocacy and the brand's ability to improve customer acquisition for its retail partners had contributed to strong network effects, leading to rapid growth. In the United States, however, competitors were abundant, the regulatory environment was unfamiliar, brand awareness was lacking and retailers were seeking to partner with service providers capable of supporting an omnichannel experience. This new set of challenges required Afterpay to reevaluate its strategy: should the company fast-track the rollout of its offline offering in the United States or was it prudent to wait to acquire a larger customer base to justify the capital expenditure and operational changes this would require?
CEO Tom Siebel navigates his artificial intelligence (ai) startup through a series of pivots, market expansions, and even an elephant attack to become a leading platform ad service provider. The case describes his unusual management approach emphasizing employee testing and selection, customer testing and selection, and a high degree of professionalism. This case is accompanied by an eight-segment video series (preview below) that shows Tom Siebel discussing his management philosophy. A link to access the videos in the classroom is provided on p. 2 of the Teaching Note.
With more than 72,000 employees and revenues approaching the $50B mark, Cisco Systems is one of the largest information technology and networking firms globally. As the company grew and expanded into different lines of businesses, Cisco consistently looked outwards for acquisition targets that could supplement its considerable size and reach. As a follow-up to its well-received $2.7B acquisition of SourceFire in 2013, which seamlessly integrated new cybersecurity offerings into the Security business group, Cisco began conversations with OpenDNS. OpenDNS was a fast-growing start-up with credibility in the cloud security space, but there were also concerns about how its Silicon Valley culture and flat organizational culture would mesh with Cisco's more staid corporate environment. This case considers the dilemmas that two Cisco executives, Karen Ashley and Dianne Nakanishi, face as they make a final decision about whether and how to acquire and integrate OpenDNS.