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The case describes how the Pro-invest Group - a boutique investment firm specialising in private equity real estate and real estate asset management - built its business and raised a first-time private equity fund. The Pro-invest founders had boot-strapped the business since its inception in 2013, but in-house funds were running out by mid-2014 and they needed third-party capital to take the venture to the next level. After deciding on a suitable fund structure, the Pro-invest team hits the fundraising trail. Turmoil erupts when a potential investor pulls out at the last minute, leaving the team in shock to re-evaluate its fundraising options. The case explores the pros and cons of each option in detail. Please visit the dedicated case website http://cases.insead.edu/pro-invest to access supplementary material.

Vendedy was the world’s first mobile network connecting global travellers to local street markets. Inspired by the emergence of the sharing economy, Vendedy’s founder and chief executive officer had always been passionate about uniting social and economic empowerment with entrepreneurial development. A complex platform linking street vendors in some of the world’s poorest countries to travellers seeking authentic tourism experiences and souvenirs, Vendedy’s founder faced numerous challenges. Where should the venture’s focus be? How quickly should she try to roll out the platform, and across how many countries? How was she going to recruit a full-time team for Vendedy? Could the company succeed in transforming how global travellers accessed the products and stories of street vendors around the world?

GreenDust, a company established in 2009, sold branded, unused, seconds, surplus, and refurbished products at low prices. This traditionally had been an unorganized sector. With increased pressures on the bottom line, rapid changes in technology (and fast obsolescence), strategies of channel cleaning by the competition, and imminent e-waste regulations enforced by the Indian government, GreenDust tried to mitigate these factors by revolutionizing the returns management of consumer goods by streamlining it. While it succeeded in reducing the high costs associated with product returns, the company had to determine whether its business model was sustainable in 2014. Could GreenDust succeed in other emerging markets? How could the firm leverage its strength as an environmentally sustainable business?

In February 2013, the senior marketing manager of Aquasi India (Private) Limited (Aquasi) met with the company’s chief executive officer to consider the challenges faced by Aquasi that had arisen due to globalization after March 1997. India’s competitive environment had completely changed; new technology had swept into the country and workers did not possess the essential skill sets to use the new machinery. Given sharp declines in quality and production output, Aquasi’s sales suffered significantly. The number of competitors increased and began to eat into the company’s market share. In the midst of these problems, Aquasi planned to develop and grow a web-based portal to manage the business in hopes that it would enable the company to move forward and survive in the difficult times ahead. However, the question remained as to how to implement this new online strategy; Aquasi’s marketing and information technology teams were novices with respect to digital media, and would face several challenges.

In April 2016, the owner of Moonka Automobile, a two-wheeled vehicle dealership for Honda Motor Company Ltd., was facing some difficult decisions regarding recruitment for Moonka Automobile’s new branch in Jamshedpur, India. The owner wanted to improve the process for recruiting salespersons for this second branch. In addition to the constraints of a tight budget, limited managerial time and availability, and the need to complete the recruitment quickly, the owner’s challenges included (1) identifying the knowledge, skills, and attitude he needed to look for in potential salespersons; (2) encouraging the appropriate candidates to apply for the job opening; and (3) improving the process to be followed for recruitment. The owner certainly did not want to rush things and end up recruiting unsuitable employees, which could have disastrous consequences for the business. At the same time, he needed to get sales underway in the new branch. How could the owner balance his many responsibilities while finding the right salespersons for Moonka Automobile?

This negotiation exercise simulates the 2015 negotiation between senior leadership at iQmetrix, a Regina-based point of sale software firm, and Humanity, a San Francisco-based provider of a human resources module that iQmetrix seeks to bundle into its software product. The exercise is unique in that it occurs in a mediated environment where both parties only interact over email. There is no face-to-face interaction, leaving both sides to negotiate an effective agreement while communicating solely through email. Use with 9B16C025.

Souche had just celebrated its first anniversary in 2014 as a business in China’s used car market. After more than a year of strenuous effort, Souche had achieved considerable objectives. The company’s website had been providing information on used cars for six months, and its physical store had opened in Beijing around the same time. The store’s monthly sales had increased dramatically from 30 cars in the first month to over 231 cars in December 2013, ranking second among used car dealers nationwide. The management team had every reason to feel proud. The company’s founder had been optimizing the operational model for greater efficiency in the previous six months, but it suddenly dawned on him that there was a bottleneck in the latest business model. Was the company on the wrong path? After rejecting yet another business model, what would Souche do next?

In June 2013, redbus.in, a bus ticketing website, was acquired by the Ibibo Group, a subsidiary of South Africa based internet and media firm Naspers Ltd, for USD 135 million. Soon after signing the deal, Phanindra Sama - CEO and co-founder of redBus, went for a holiday to London along with his parents. Sama remained incommunicado during the 10 day trip by not acquiring a local number and not accessing his emails. During Sama's absence, senior management team of Alok Goel and Satish Gidugu at redBus along with three mid-level managers submitted their resignation. Apart from employees of redBus, the Ibibo takeover team was also 'foxed' as desperate calls and emails to Sama elicited no response. This case examines the chaos created due to Sama's absence and helps in understanding the issues when a technology start up is acquired.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 817009.

eSig, an early-stage startup, offers an electronic signature application as a "freemium" product- i.e., users can upgrade from a free basic version to a premium version by paying a subscription fee. Using 9 months of data from 50,000 user activations, available as a case supplement, students are asked to project the number of new users eSig will acquire in Q1 2016, and recommend how much they should spend during the quarter on each major marketing channel (e.g., Facebook ads, Google ads, content marketing, etc.). Note: the name and functionality of the actual freemium application upon which the case is based have been disguised.

Curling was officially included in the Winter Olympic Games in 1998. Since then, it spread beyond its home in Canada and northern Europe to many other countries, including China. As a new player, the Chinese Curling Association managed to elevate its national teams to achieve world elite status and be widely admired by its international counterparts for being so successful with fewer than 300 curlers and only a 10-year history. In 2014, the Chinese Curling Association needed to develop a strategic approach to grow curling in China in a healthy and sustainable way.

Shanghai Toex Trading Co., Ltd. (TOEX) was a Chinese pet grooming equipment maker. In 2014, after years of operating internationally solely through third-party distribution channels, TOEX opened a new sales and logistics centre in Dallas, Texas to boost TOEX’s business in the United States. The new centre was also meant to be a model for future expansions to other countries. With more than a decade of industry experience, TOEX's founder believed that succeeding in the United States was critically important for the company’s future. However, he was not sure how to execute a successful international growth strategy and how to best leverage the new U.S. logistics centre.

This case tells the story of how Sarah Kauss, a young female entrepreneur, built a premium water bottle brand from scratch. After having built a high-end brand, the key decision in the case is whether to begin expanding the S'well product portfolio to the mass market.

Soon after Robin Kovitz (MBA 2007) acquired Baskits Inc., the largest gift basket company in Canada, she became convinced that the business needed to make significant operational improvements. In her first year as CEO, she introduced an ERP system to help with sales and purchasing, and relocated the business to a more efficient facility. She wondered if she moved too quickly.

The Growing Pains at Commonwealth Dairy case provides an interesting situation to explore the challenges faced by a fast-growth company and the potential ways to address these challenges. Specifically, Commonwealth Dairy (CD) faces challenges that may be categorized along the following dimensions: a) how to continue the rapid pace of growth, b) how to manage the administrative challenges which the two founding managers faced, brought on by growth and the establishment of a second location of operations, c) how to manage the changing roles of the co-founders and the increasing need for more formal management systems and processes, and d) how to manage the changing nature of the co-founders' relationship with their primary investor from Germany. The co-founders face some key decisions regarding the future of CD in terms of its growth trajectory, the CD organization's ability to sustain its entrepreneurial energy and values in light of explosive growth, the relationship between CD and their primary investor Ehrmann, and finally, the co-founders' personal aspirations and roles.

The idea for ONk originated in 2012 when six-year-old Mike asked his father, Sam Ke, one night, "Can we make a computer that is simple and fun?" Soon afterwards, a team of three - Alex Bell, Joe Costa and Sam Ke - came together to answer the call. The mission: to give young people - and the young at heart - a simple, fun way to make and play with technology and take control of the world around them. At the core of the proposed offering is a hardware and software kit that can be assembled to create an easy-to-program computer. They named the company ONk to epitomise the spirit of their idea: build a computer, turn it ON and hit any KEY, so you could immediately start to code.

"The Mosquito Network" describes the appointment and work of Ray Chambers, a retired private equity entrepreneur, as the United Nations' Special Envoy for Malaria. The A case covers the modern history of efforts to combat malaria and the beginnings of Chambers's involvement in the cause. The B case picks up after Chambers's appointment to the UN and describes the efforts made by Chambers and his partners and collaborators to achieve the audacious goal of eradicating deaths from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa in a decade's time.

Supplement to case KS1191. "The Mosquito Network" describes the appointment and work of Ray Chambers, a retired private equity entrepreneur, as the United Nations' Special Envoy for Malaria. The A case covers the modern history of efforts to combat malaria and the beginnings of Chambers's involvement in the cause. The B case picks up after Chambers's appointment to the UN and describes the efforts made by Chambers and his partners and collaborators to achieve the audacious goal of eradicating deaths from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa in a decade's time.

Supplement to cases KS1191 and KS1192. "The Mosquito Network" describes the appointment and work of Ray Chambers, a retired private equity entrepreneur, as the United Nations' Special Envoy for Malaria. The A case covers the modern history of efforts to combat malaria and the beginnings of Chambers's involvement in the cause. The B case picks up after Chambers's appointment to the UN and describes the efforts made by Chambers and his partners and collaborators to achieve the audacious goal of eradicating deaths from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa in a decade's time.