個案總覽

How can a popular neighborhood restaurant in the trendy Flatiron District in Manhattan survive the significant challenges that arise during the COVID-19 pandemic? Indoor dining is banned, offices are closed, and many residents have fled the city. This case describes how Klaas Claes, the co-owner of BXL Zoute, adapts his restaurant to the changing business landscape during the initial coronavirus lockdown. During the first ten days, he implements several initiatives to keep the restaurant in people's minds and to create much-needed cash flow. Claes develops the capability for customers to buy online gift cards and he adds alcohol to his delivery menu when New York States relaxes its liquor laws to help restaurants. He is also taking steps to sell and deliver ready-to-heat vacuum-sealed (i.e., sous vide) meals to customers directly. Ten days after the announcement of the lockdown by New York's Governor, it dawns upon him that the pandemic restrictions will be in force for a while and that these new initiatives will not be enough to get him through extended periods of indoor dining restrictions. Faced with considerable uncertainty, he wonders how he can he leverage his resources and his vast network of friends and restaurant professionals so that BXL Zoute will survive these "interesting" times?

Negotiating the initial equity split among founders is not as straight-forward as it might first appear. In this case, five Belgians launch Novosanis, a university spinoff, to commercialize two promising medical devices: VAX-ID and Colli-Pee. VAX-ID is an injection device suited for highly accurate and painless drug delivery effective at low volumes. Colli-Pee provides a non-invasive method of detecting Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and other infectious diseases. The Novosanis founding team includes two scientists who proposed the original ideas, two project coordinators who managed the R&D process at the university, and an industrial partner who provided technical support. The team's first inclination is to split the equity evenly, to reflect their relatively equal contributions prior to the spinoff. It becomes clear however, that if future contributions are included in the decision, an equal split might actually be unfair and counterproductive. One founder agrees to be the spin-off's full-time CEO and another consents to be part-time CTO. The remaining founders choose not to take active roles post start-up. The team has an important decision to make: How should they divide the shares of Novosanis to compensate prior contributions, while also supporting the venture going forward? Would equal be fair?

Nickolay Lamm, a recent university graduate, has been interested in entrepreneurship since his childhood. After running two small start-ups as a teen, graduating with a marketing degree and being laid off from his first traditional job, he finds himself working as a freelance designer. His focus is on creating original visual representations of data that go viral. Nickolay's speculative illustration of a fashion doll based on the proportions of an average 19-year old American woman (referred to as "Normal Barbie" by online media) creates considerable market buzz. His "average is beautiful" doll concept is widely covered in online media channels including the Huffington Post, BBC Radio, Cosmopolitan, CNN, Good Morning America, MSN and Smithsonian. When Nickolay starts to receive requests from parents asking where they can purchase an actual physical "average" doll based on his visual representation, he asks himself a question: "Is this the entrepreneurial opportunity for which I've been waiting?" In the end, Nickolay has a decision to make: 1) explore the feasibility of a partnership with Mattel, Hasbro or another established player 2) launch his own company, either with business partners or by himself; or 3) wait for a better entrepreneurial opportunity to emerge...