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It was June 2011, and Alain Chuard and Victoria Ransom reflected on their history as founders of Wildfire Interactive Inc. (Wildfire). Originally called Promotion Builder, Wildfire had evolved from an in-house marketing solution used by the duo's adventure travel company to a multi-platform software program used by thousands of businesses globally. The Wildfire product enabled these customers to develop customized social-media marketing campaigns composed of video and essay competitions, user-generated contests, quizzes, and coupons. Users could then push these promotions to their websites or social networks, such as Facebook, hi5, and LinkedIn. Through this evolution, the team contended with a myriad of difficulties, including attracting talent, navigating international markets, and building and scaling operations. In particular, obstacles associated with cultural differences and geographical distance made it challenging for the company to maintain effective operations overseas. Moreover, relative to its competitors, Wildfire was substantially under-funded and under-marketed. This made it difficult for the founders to decide when the company should either accept or turn away lucrative-yet demanding-high-profile customers. Chuard and Ransom were now at another critical decision point in the organization's lifecycle. Wildfire had traditionally been a campaign-based product. Under this model, Wildfire was offered to customers for an initial fee plus a per-day charge, the size of which was dependent upon the feature set chosen by the customer. Recent pressures from investors and consumers, however, had pushed the founders to consider a transition to a subscription-based platform that would provide timeline and stream management, analytics, and page-management functionality. Whereas the founders knew that transforming business models could have various positive effects for Wildfire, implementing the change would also inherently alter the company and its product

The Iora Health case looks at a new approach to the management and delivery of primary care. Instead of having a doctor, half a nurse and two accountants, Iora deploys a doctor, a nurse and several health coaches, all operating as an integrated team. Iora focuses on measuring and improving health. They are paid to manage a population rather than on a fee for service basis. They spend twice as much on primary care and hope to save over 20% on total care by improving health and obviating the need for acute interventions. The action question in the cases revolves around a proposed financing for the company at a time when several locations are up and running but the model has not been fully validated.

Strava is a new fast-growing social network for the avid cyclist and runner. The Strava case traces the entrepreneurial journey of two serial entrepreneurs who have been co-founders in a prior venture, and who have co-founded Strava 3 years ago. The protagonists must decide whether or not to accept the Series A investment terms from their venture capitalists.

In 2013, Brigitte Baumann, founder of the Pan-European angel investing provider Go Beyond Investing, reflected on the evolution of her venture and the way forward. Her company, which offered deal flow and training to novice and experienced angel investors and ran investor groups in several European countries, had reached a critical size, and Baumann needed to make a strategic decision to ensure its future growth in an industry that was undergoing rapid competitive and regulatory change. Her options required a decision on whether to keep her venture independent, and use a financing round to grow and scale it to a European leader in early stage investing, or whether to cash out and/or have it evolve more quickly through a partnership or sale. Possibilities included a future sale to a private bank that was looking for ways to expand their investment offerings for high net worth individuals, or joining forces with one of the emerging crowdfunding networks that targeted small investors. All of these options would require adjustments to Go Beyond Investing's strategy, capabilities, financing, and organizational structure.

After spending a few years in the corporate world, in 2012, a young entrepreneur in India decided to start up his own venture developing mobile applications that supported interactive comic content. Called TodTales, the innovative e-comic would incorporate music, interactive games and augmented reality in a comic book format that would encourage young children to read. He had raised the initial seed funding from his own and his partner’s personal resources and an angel investor. The prototype was ready for demonstration and received positive responses from parents during a focus group study conducted in Mumbai. With the hope of going commercial by the end of 2014, the founder knew that he should start the next stage of development by convincing prospective investors that his idea had commercial potential and would quickly find a market not only in India but around the world.

Established in 2004, Facebook had shown stupendous growth. However, faced with the evolving mobile communication industry and increasing competition, the company was on the lookout to increase its user base by acquiring WhatsApp. Was it the right decision for Facebook to acquire WhatsApp — and at the steep price of $19 billion? From WhatsApp’s perspective, the company’s founder wanted to continue with his vision of connecting people, irrespective of the decision involving Facebook. Should WhatsApp sell its assets to Facebook or should it insist on an equity alliance instead?

In fall 2009, the new president and chief executive officer of PAR Springer-Miller Systems, based in Stowe, Vermont, is tasked with leading the most significant innovation effort the company has undertaken since its founding in 1984. The company is a leading provider of property management, point-of-sale and spa management systems for high-end hotels, resorts, spas and casinos worldwide, but its legacy products are based on outdated technology and subject to increasing customer complaints; at the same time, the global recession has negatively affected the high-end market. In his first year, the new president has made significant progress in restructuring the organization and shifting its culture to a more entrepreneurial one. He is ready to begin the development of an entirely new product but has to decide on strategy, in particular deciding on the best market on which to focus the new software product and then mapping out a plan to execute its development and launch. How can he elicit a radical innovation from a team of management and employees so culturally rooted in their past accomplishments and legacy products? Should he look for a technology partner and develop the new product in a different location? Can the legacy products be kept up and running long enough for the new product to generate sufficient sales that they can be retired? These are the issues that must be addressed or the company may well face a dire future.<br><br>See B Case 9B14C023.

In fall 2009, the new president and chief executive officer of PAR Springer-Miller Systems, based in Stowe, Vermont, is tasked with leading the most significant innovation effort the company has undertaken since its founding in 1984. The company is a leading provider of property management, point-of-sale and spa management systems for high-end hotels, resorts, spas and casinos worldwide, but its legacy products are based on outdated technology and subject to increasing customer complaints; at the same time, the global recession has negatively affected the high-end market. In his first year, the new president has made significant progress in restructuring the organization and shifting its culture to a more entrepreneurial one. He is ready to begin the development of an entirely new product but has to decide on strategy, in particular deciding on the best market on which to focus the new software product and then mapping out a plan to execute its development and launch. How can he elicit a radical innovation from a team of management and employees so culturally rooted in their past accomplishments and legacy products? Should he look for a technology partner and develop the new product in a different location? Can the legacy products be kept up and running long enough for the new product to generate sufficient sales that they can be retired? These are the issues that must be addressed or the company may well face a dire future.<br><br>See A Case 9B14C022.

Helio Polymer Enterprises, located in Nakuru, Kenya, is a company that manufactures synthetic polymer gunny bags used in the transportation and handling of animal feed. The owner wants to expand her business operations so she can serve more clients. She has three options: to add a night shift, buy a new printing machine or start producing laminate gunny bags for other markets. Before she makes the decision, she must understand her current operational capacity and determine what aspects of customer service she believes are important for the long-term success of her company.

In October 2011, a young entrepreneur in Ghana faced a critical moment. Given his degree in marketing and his experience running a retail clothing store, he was confident he could branch out and start his own photocopying service in his hometown of Koforidua, where there was a distinct undersupply of photocopying services. The proposed store would be located near All Nations University, whose students and faculty would provide a stable demand for his offerings. Now he must perform a breakeven analysis and return on investment calculation to assess if he should go forward with the venture.

EA Financial Services was a microfinance institution in Koforidua, Ghana. In its seven months of operation, it had done well to establish a client base, before it lacked sufficient capital to meet the growing demand for new loans. Although having a growing client base is a positive sign, the lack of capital was a significant burden—the company had to begin turning down loan requests. The owner knew that potential clients would likely deal with one of his many competitors if he could not provide financial services for them. He wondered if he should first explore obtaining additional operational capital or concentrate on improving current operations. Several alternatives to addressing these issues had presented themselves. What was the best course of action?

In 2013, a successful entrepreneur in Eldoret, Kenya was considering her options. In 2007, after a history of operating several small businesses, only one of which failed, she founded Lilgaa Property Management Ltd., a real estate and property management business. She had focused her energies on the real estate industry in spite of its many challenges, which included corruption and lack of regulation, enforcement and trust. In 2013 she needed to decide how to grow her business, specifically, whether she could buy a building in Eldoret and rent it out or buy a plot of land on the outskirts of town and build a hotel; if the latter, would it cater to the middle or upper class? She had to assess the various elements of the business, political and social environments and consider the potential risks that could affect the outcome of her investment.

Sweet Leaf Bath Co. is a small, family-operated bath and body products company specializing in fairtrade, environmentally conscious products. The company progressed from initially selling its high-quality, unique products at craft shows and exhibitions to limited sales through local retailers. Through these sales channels, Sweet Leaf's founding partners learned more about the bath and body industry and the international issues surrounding the sourcing of many raw ingredients used in their products. However, after a year of minimal sales growth, the partners realized that they needed to develop and implement a new marketing strategy that would enable them to grow the business. Out of the many options available to expand the company's distribution plans and promotional efforts, its owners must select those opportunities that will offer maximum benefits on a limited budget.

Ten years after its founding, California-based Tesla Motors is close to becoming one of the world's premier luxury car manufacturers. Its innovative design - using carbon fibre and aluminum rather than steel to construct body and parts - and technology - lithium ion battery packs rather than gasoline for power and a simple powertrain to provide maximum acceleration - make its models treasured options for eco-friendly and tech-savvy consumers as well as wealthy professionals. Relying almost entirely on word-of-mouth promotion through social media, the company sells its cars through factory stores in upscale malls rather than through dealerships and has built service centres to provide free battery charging. However, just as it is expanding into Europe and Asia and is contemplating buying its own factory to secure its battery supply, three of its cars have burst into flames following collisions, although no one has been injured. In addition, analysts claim that the company has been covering up its lack of cash flow by using non-generally accepted accounting principles for reporting its revenue. The CEO knows that the company has tremendous potential but is struggling with public relations problems arising from the crashes and questions about its financial stability and return on investment to investors.

Safe Water Network, a charity initiative focused on providing underserved populations with clean drinking water, established its first site in the village of Nizampally, India. This initiative was unique in a number of ways in its conception as well as its execution. Firstly, after vigorous assessment of the identified region, demand-driven solutions were customized to deal with the specific water-related issues of the region. Secondly, it was supported by prominent Indian and international companies who not only provided monetary support but also extended assistance in terms of technology, assessment and further research. Thirdly, the project was economically sustainable and required active participation and ownership by the community it served. Safe Water Network's directors hoped to scale up and sustain the adoption of the Safe Water project. The commitment and participation of the villagers was truly heartening but would this enthusiasm continue? Would the villagers see value in this expenditure? Were there any barriers to the project's adoption?

The founders of Maricopa, Inc., a startup that sold proprietery hair-care products directly to salons, were preparing a board presentation to address the young company's inability to meet financial projections. While the products had caught on with customers, the financial shortcomings raised some questions about the company's business plan. The company had gone through much of its cash and needed additional funding to continue operating. At the same time, two VC investors were deciding how to proceed with their investments in Maricopa. The larger VC firm questioned Maricopa's management's decisions and was hesitant to further fund the company. However the Maricopa investment was much more important to the smaller VC firm, and it's representative on Maricopa's board worked hard to convinve her counterpart from the larger firm that while the firm had struggled, it was a young startup with strong potential. Without the larger firm investing again in Maricopa, the business was at risk of going under.

The Indian packaging industry &mdash; represented by a mix of paperboard, plastics, metals, and glass &mdash; had seen great change leading up to 2013. In 2012, Ajanta Packaging ranked among the top suppliers of glass bottles in India with an employee base of more than 50 and net revenues of US$100 million. The glass-bottle industry had a derived demand and depended on major industries using glass bottles in India, such as the liquor and beer, soft-drinks and pharmaceutical industries.<br /><br />The Ajanta Packaging case study discusses the stiff competition faced by the glass-bottle industry from different packaging options and materials that had entered the industry in the last four to five years. It assesses the changing market dynamics that could have a big impact on the future of Ajanta Packaging, with many companies shifting to PET bottles, Tetra Pak, flexible packaging, and other innovative packaging solutions, to reduce costs and improve the durability of products. Ajanta Packaging was highly dependent on glass-bottle sales, as 95 per cent of its revenue came from them. Should it carry on with the same product range, exploit the declining glass-bottle industry with more customers of glass bottles or enhance its product range with more varieties of PET bottles?</p>

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a venture capital firm launched in 2009, has quickly broken into the VC industry's top ranks, in terms of its ability to invest in Silicon Valley's most promising startups. The case recounts the firm's history; describes its co-founders' motivations and their strategy for disrupting an industry in the midst of dramatic structural change; and asks whether a16z's success to date has been due to its novel organization structure. a16z's 22 investment professionals are supported by 43 recruiting and marketing specialists-an "operating team" that is an order of magnitude larger than that of any other VC firm. Furthermore, the operating team aims to not only assist a16z portfolio companies, but also to be broadly helpful to all parties in the Silicon Valley ecosystem, including search firms, journalists, PR agencies, and Fortune 500 executives. The bet: by providing "no-strings-attached" help to ecosystem partners, the partners might someday reciprocate by steering founders seeking funding to a16z. The case closes by asking whether a16z should seek to double its scale over the next years.

Open English, a Miami-based startup offering online English language learning services, had more than 30,000 active students across Latin America in 2012. The company had just closed a $43 million financing round in order to rapidly scale its service to the next level. Nicolette Moreno, Co-founder and Vice President of Product Development, felt that a substantial portion of the new funding was needed to rework Open English's platform to enable the additional growth. She was concerned that the company's learning platform (LP)-the core set of software systems used to deliver online lessons-was beginning to show its age. Although one path would be to shore up the LP's capacity incrementally to allow the company to sustain its momentum with minimal disruption, Nicolette felt it was just a matter of time before they had to tackle a complete rewrite of the platform. Although daunting to undertake, a rewrite would allow the company to grow beyond the current LP's capabilities and position them for future success. Nicolette needed to give the board a full sense of what she saw-was now really the right time for a complete rewrite of the LP? What were the risks? And how should she approach the effort?