The Mountain Hardwear A, B, and C cases cover the founding and rise of the premium outdoor apparel and equipment manufacturer. The A case (set between late 1993 and 1999) addresses the company's founding, early brand development, and the particular characteristics of the outdoor apparel and equipment industry. The B case is set in 2003 and examines trends within that industry as well as the company's opportunity to be acquired by a larger, more diversified apparel company. The C case is set in 2006, and it examines Mountain Hardwear's athlete sponsorship program.
The Mountain Hardwear A, B, and C cases cover the founding and rise of the premium outdoor apparel and equipment manufacturer. The A case (set between late 1993 and 1999) addresses the company's founding, early brand development, and the particular characteristics of the outdoor apparel and equipment industry. The B case is set in 2003 and examines trends within that industry as well as the company's opportunity to be acquired by a larger, more diversified apparel company. The C case is set in 2006, and it examines Mountain Hardwear's athlete sponsorship program.
FHP Wireless develops and sells Wi-Fi networking hardware with value-added software to create "wireless meshes," the technology that makes metro-scale Wi-Fi coverage possible. A wireless mesh connects many wireless routers together in a network that reduces backhaul (the connection between a particular network and the internet) costs by an order of magnitude over alternative metro-scale solutions. Follows the founders through the development of the FHP product, financing, and the company's early attempts to bring its product to market. Concludes as the company faces several strategic alternatives to addressing its unexpectedly slow revenue ramp. The company must choose between several target markets, and the decision is complicated by a declining cash balance and a new investor.
Chronicles entrepreneur Lisa Conte's two ventures, Shaman Pharmaceuticals and Napo Pharmaceuticals. Shaman was formed to make drug discovery and development more efficient by studying traditional, indigenous healers in the tropics. Shaman had identified a promising compound that came to be known as crofelemer. For a variety of complex reasons, Shaman declared bankruptcy, and Napo, Conte's new company established specifically for this purpose, bought Shaman's library of compounds, including crofelemer. At the time of the case study, Napo was developing the compound for sale in large western markets while arranging an innovative public-private partnership to develop and distribute crofelemer in the developing world. In developing countries, the compound would treat diarrhea, which kills over 2.5 million children every year. However, the public-private partnership proved difficult to arrange. Concludes with Conte deciding whether to proceed with the partnership that would not only save the lives of children, but also provide much-needed capital to keep Napo in business. Highlights the difficulties of establishing partnerships across sectors and pursuing complex negotiations within the complicated market and regulatory environment associated with the pharmaceuticals industry.
Charts the development of outsourcing service provider ExlService. Founded by Indian nationals Vikram Talwar and Rohit Kapoor, the firm has moved through several phases of evolution. At the conclusion of the case, the company is offering highly sophisticated outsourcing solutions to manage complex processes for insurance and financial services companies. Throughout ExlService's history, it constantly faces pressures to revise and redefine its service offerings (as outsourced services become commoditized) and retain its well-trained workers (who are highly sought after in India). Chronicles the connections between the firm's investors and the company's strategy and competencies.
EndoNav developed an innovative medical device to make colonoscopy procedures easier and faster to perform and less painful to receive. Despite of excellent technology, IP protection, a reasonably large market, and relatively low regulatory risk, the founder (Jaime Vargas) and his business partner (Kenneth Kelley, GSB MBA, 1987) are unable to secure venture funding. The company eventually decides that it must adapt its product and business plan so that it can be funded on a smaller scale by angel investors.
The protagonist is Bruce Dunlevie, a co-founder of venture firm Benchmark Capital. In early 2007, Dunlevie and his partners are faced with whether to expand their firm into China and/or India, as many other well respected VC firms had been doing at the same time. Despite having two existing and successful satellite offices in the UK and Israel, the partners are not convinced that further expansion makes sense. Therefore, to follow logic, they are also considering whether to spin out the existing satelittes to be independent entities or keep them as part of the Benchmark franchise.
Follows Jeff Hawkins, Donna Dubinsky, and, later, Ed Colligan from the founding of Palm, Inc., through the founding of Handspring, to the point that Handspring and Palm began considering a merger. Examines the conditions that drove the two rival companies toward a merger. In a relatively stagnant market for personal technology, Handspring lacked the financial resources to launch its next-generation product, the Treo 600; meanwhile, Palm's market position was threatened by a lack of breakthrough product innovation and viable growth plans. From the date of its founding, Handspring nurtured a rivalry with its chief competitor, Palm, Inc. By early 2003, Palm, Inc. had stabilized its business, while Handspring found itself in a dire financial situation. Handspring pursued two financing alternatives: a PIPE and a merger with Palm--engendering two different operating states for the company. The board of directors and management team were fairly evenly split between the two deals, each of which involved uncertainty.