TravelBank is a tech startup founded by Duke Chung, Ching-Ho Fung, and Reid Williams in 2016 that provides companies with an online platform through which employees can book travel and directly generate expense reports using user-friendly technology. Within the first full year of offering travel, TravelBank had grown to $100M annually and managed travel spending for 100,000 users from 15,000 organizations. However, in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic began, and travel was severely limited, causing issues for the company. This case explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on TravelBank, the company's crisis management strategy, and whether the founders should sell the company to an interested acquirer.
This general experience case tells the story of SearchLight Cures, a fictional biotechnology startup. Having discovered a new therapy for a rare disease, the company's co-founders find themselves at an impasse over a pricing disagreement.
Career Karma is a startup focused on helping individuals looking to transition careers into computer engineering roles or similar fields by preparing them for formal technical training programs, or "coding bootcamps," that would lead to a successful career pivot upon graduating from the program. The platform also encouraged users to engage with each other in "squad" support groups and paired users with mentors (other users who successfully transitioned careers through Career Karma). This case explores the journey of Career Karma's three founders and navigating growth through an unexpected recession caused by a global pandemic.
Founded in 2010, CredEx has been a fast and constant innovator in the microfinance industry in China. Tang Xia, CEO and co-founder of CredEx, has led the company through a number of profound business model innovations in response to external environment changes, which transformed the company from an offline, operation heavy micro lending company to an online, data driven FinTech company. This case describes CredEx's business model transformation process since its founding and explores the drivers and challenges in different stages of business model innovation and transformation. Ultimately, the case highlights the key capabilities needed to digitize a traditional finance business as well as the organizational changes needed to enable the digitization.
Fresh out of a public social media debacle, Gary Vaynerchuk needs to reconsider the approach he takes in leading his digital media agency, VaynerMedia. Founded in 2009 by Gary and his brother AJ, VaynerMedia has grown into an unconventional creative marketing agency. With notable clients and a savvy and personable approach to maintaining attention arbitrage, the future looks bright with Gary at the helm of VaynerMedia. Or does it? This case explores Vaynerchuk's strengths and weaknesses, VaynerMedia's successes and challenges, and the overall command of the marketing firm as it continues to grow and evolve in an ever-changing digital media landscape. Ultimately, the case highlights a tension many ventures face as they mature from initial founding to growth sustainability: should the visionary CEO continue leading the charge forward, or should he consider stepping aside and allowing his firm to lead its own way forward?
Boxed.com ("Boxed") is an ambitious e-commerce retailer start-up, founded by visionary CEO Chieh Huang in 2013. From starting in Huang's garage in 2013, to winning Emerging E-Retailer of the Year in 2016, to having 4 operational distribution centers in 2018, Boxed used a variety of strategies in order to gain customers and grow its presence. This case explores the journey that the scrappy, new entrant navigated as it competed against large, goliath players in an already established retail and e-commerce industry.
Frustrated by an inability to convince existing venture capital firms to invest in companies led by women, people of color, and LGBT founders, Arlan Hamilton started her own firm, Backstage Capital, in 2015. Hamilton understood the untapped potential of companies run by underrepresented founders, a group historically excluded from venture capital funding, and was eager to demonstrate the significant returns on investment in such companies. This case explores Hamilton's nontraditional VC background, and her mission to fund startups where at least one founder of the company identifies as a woman, person of color, or LGBT. Now, three years after its founding, Hamilton is considering launching both an accelerator and a fund that will invest exclusively in Black women.
Cotopaxi, an innovative outdoor gear business targeting millennials, focuses on profit and social impact. This registered benefit corporation was formed by Davis Smith who coalesced his experiences as a Wharton MBA student along with professional knowledge from an unpaid internship in Peru and his previous e-commerce startups in the US and Brazil. Cotopaxi's social cause is fighting global poverty; their target is to donate 10% of their profits but as a new capital-intensive business they give 2% of their revenue. Their income streams are mainly direct to consumer sales along with corporate sales and a special experience based event-Questival. Their direct to consumer model lowers costs compared to competitors and allows Cotopaxi to offer lower prices, but they face a challenge in positioning their products as high quality.
For many qualified non-native English speakers, invisible barriers to high-level employment and to receiving funding for entrepreneurial ventures remain a fact of life. New research shows that this results from perceptions that accented speakers are lacking in political skills, and suggests actions individuals and companies can take to mitigate the problem.