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This B case presents a conversation between E+Co's co-founders and an employee in Latin America who had raised the tough question of scale at E+Co's 2006 annual retreat. One of the co-founders' response for getting E+Co 10 times more impactful in emerging economies was to adopt what he called a strategy of wedges. Also presented is a set of complementary strategies that together could help achieve steady local impact and rapid growth. The conversation also exposes some of the strategic experiments attempted by E+Co during the past 12 years that did not achieve the expected goals yet inspired new paths to scale. This is a supplement to E+Co: A Tipping Point for Clean Energy Entrepreneurship (A), product # 9B07M054.

Linlin Chen, a sales manager at Allnation Import and Export Co. Ltd., is in her office looking at the revenue reports for her sales in the past three months. Her numbers are very good, and she knows she is about to be rewarded with a promotion and the opportunity to become a shareholder in the company. Chen has been thinking about becoming an entrepreneur for some time. As she weighs the risks and the opportunities, she realizes that she needs to make a decision within nine days, when she will be asked to become a shareholder in the company.

Mary Gadams, founder and CEO of RacingThePlanet is facing one of the many logistical crises that her young Hong Kong-based venture faces as it stages its popular 4Deserts(tm) adventure marathon series in Atacama Chile, Gobi Desert Mongolia, Sahara Desert Egypt, and Antarctica. How can a small company in Hong Kong continue to effectively coordinate such a far-flung, complex, global operation?

Christian Harbinson, a young associate at the venture capital firm Scharfstein Weekes, has a difficult decision to make before the next investment committee meeting. He's been watching over SW's investment in Seven Peaks Technologies, and sales of its single product have been disappointing. Now the company's head, Jack Brandon, wants another $400,000 to pursue a new product. Harbinson believes in Brandon and in his proprietary technology--a titanium alloy that prevents surgical instruments from sticking to tissue. Three years ago, Brandon quit his job and put $65,000 of his savings into developing a nonstick cauterizing device. Two distributors offered to carry it after they saw his demonstration at a trade show, and a couple of surgeons, quickly becoming enthusiastic, promised testimonials. But if Brandon's cauterizer is to take off, surgeons will have to abandon the forceps they've traditionally used and switch to the Seven Peaks device--a change in behavior that will come slowly if at all. So, Brandon thinks, why not adapt his alloy to a line of forceps? Now Harbinson wonders if he himself has become emotionally overinvested in Seven Peaks and if this decision is as much a test of his VC potential as of the actual deal. Should Scharfstein Weekes back Brandon's company with a second round of funding, or would it be a case of throwing good money after bad? Commenting on this fictional case study in R0703A and R0703Z are Ivan Farneti, a partner with Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures; Fred Hassan, the chairman and CEO of Schering-Plough; Robert M. Johnson, a venture partner with Delta Partners and a visiting professor at the University of Navarro's IESE Business School; and Christoph Zott, an associate professor of entrepreneurship at Insead.

Christian Harbinson, a young associate at the venture capital firm Scharfstein Weekes, has a difficult decision to make before the next investment committee meeting. He's been watching over SW's investment in Seven Peaks Technologies, and sales of its single product have been disappointing. Now the company's head, Jack Brandon, wants another $400,000 to pursue a new product. Harbinson believes in Brandon and in his proprietary technology--a titanium alloy that prevents surgical instruments from sticking to tissue. Three years ago, Brandon quit his job and put $65,000 of his savings into developing a nonstick cauterizing device. Two distributors offered to carry it after they saw his demonstration at a trade show, and a couple of surgeons, quickly becoming enthusiastic, promised testimonials. But if Brandon's cauterizer is to take off, surgeons will have to abandon the forceps they've traditionally used and switch to the Seven Peaks device--a change in behavior that will come slowly if at all. So, Brandon thinks, why not adapt his alloy to a line of forceps? Now Harbinson wonders if he himself has become emotionally overinvested in Seven Peaks and if this decision is as much a test of his VC potential as of the actual deal. Should Scharfstein Weekes back Brandon's company with a second round of funding, or would it be a case of throwing good money after bad? Commenting on this fictional case study in R0703A and R0703Z are Ivan Farneti, a partner with Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures; Fred Hassan, the chairman and CEO of Schering-Plough; Robert M. Johnson, a venture partner with Delta Partners and a visiting professor at the University of Navarro's IESE Business School; and Christoph Zott, an associate professor of entrepreneurship at Insead.

Christian Harbinson, a young associate at the venture capital firm Scharfstein Weekes, has a difficult decision to make before the next investment committee meeting. He's been watching over SW's investment in Seven Peaks Technologies, and sales of its single product have been disappointing. Now the company's head, Jack Brandon, wants another $400,000 to pursue a new product. Harbinson believes in Brandon and in his proprietary technology--a titanium alloy that prevents surgical instruments from sticking to tissue. Three years ago, Brandon quit his job and put $65,000 of his savings into developing a nonstick cauterizing device. Two distributors offered to carry it after they saw his demonstration at a trade show, and a couple of surgeons, quickly becoming enthusiastic, promised testimonials. But if Brandon's cauterizer is to take off, surgeons will have to abandon the forceps they've traditionally used and switch to the Seven Peaks device--a change in behavior that will come slowly if at all. So, Brandon thinks, why not adapt his alloy to a line of forceps? Now Harbinson wonders if he himself has become emotionally overinvested in Seven Peaks and if this decision is as much a test of his VC potential as of the actual deal. Should Scharfstein Weekes back Brandon's company with a second round of funding, or would it be a case of throwing good money after bad? Commenting on this fictional case study in R0703A and R0703Z are Ivan Farneti, a partner with Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures; Fred Hassan, the chairman and CEO of Schering-Plough; Robert M. Johnson, a venture partner with Delta Partners and a visiting professor at the University of Navarro's IESE Business School; and Christoph Zott, an associate professor of entrepreneurship at Insead.

WildChina (A) tells the story of Mei Zhang, a Chinese-born HBS alumna, and her pursuit of a dream: to share her passion for travel, her appreciation of China's beauty and culture, and her desire to start her own business. Describes the startup of WildChina, a tour company targeting a high-end clientele with unusual and high-quality products, and its survival of two business crises. The focus is on Zhang's decision to bring in a COO, transition him to CEO, and assume the position of Chairperson. Also describes communication and control challenges faced when Zhang moves to Los Angeles with her family, and tries to remain involved in her Beijing-based business. The decision Zhang faces is how to proceed when, in the midst of sales and operational problems and financial pressures, her CEO announces that he will be leaving the company in a matter of months.

Supplements the (A) case.

The founder/owner of Sunripe Marketplace (Sunripe) is thinking about the stores' product offerings. He has two fresh produce-focused stores and a unique set of distribution and store-level systems that differentiate Sunripe from other supermarkets. Being a small retailer allows the owner to only choose the best and freshest products for his two stores. His stores have several private labels that customers like. Sunripe's owner must now consider how to improve the marketing of these private labels.

The director of La Liberte, a French not-for-profit weekly newspaper, needed to revitalize the newspaper as sales had been declining consistently for the past 15 years. The newspaper's mission was to serve the French community in Manitoba, Canada. Survival of a French newspaper was essential for the French culture in the community. To reverse the negative sales trend, the director conducted a survey. Based on the findings of the survey, the director had to balance his desire to serve the French community with the need to be financially viable.

Students must analyse the marketing, operating and financial aspects of a personal fitness training centre to be located in London, Ontario, to determine an appropriate pricing and promotion strategy and the resulting projected financial success of the venture. Students need to develop cash budgets based on their assessment of the information provided. The analysis points to the financial uncertainty for a start-up company without hands-on experience from past years of operation. The case is suitable for class or as a report on business plan evaluation.

The president of a national placement agency is preparing to make a final pitch to sign Greyhound Canada as a client. Greyhound wants to reposition its brand as a mainstream travel option, particularly for suburban commuters, and needs cost-effective ways to get its message to consumers. The company views product placement as a viable tool for building brand awareness, but worries about losing control over its brand image. Even more serious are concerns about the absence of reliable metrics to assess the overall effectiveness of product placement. The case covers fundamentals of product placement, particularly with respect to strengths and weaknesses, and provides an excellent basis for discussing its value as part of an overall marketing communications strategy.

The case describes Naseeb Networks (Naseeb), a social networking site that seeks to offer Muslims an online forum that conforms to Islamic cultural traditions. Using a product platform strategy, the company has been able to expand to other online services to Muslims, including greeting cards and job search. As a company, Naseeb has a number of advantages that distinguish it from other Islamic Internet companies. The case looks at the conditions under which a company can seek to enter a mature market by offering highly specialized niche services and raises questions about how to monetize a niche service with limited expansion options. From an information systems perspective, it provides an example of how a technology platform can be used to expand into other service areas with minimal development costs. Lastly, the case considers how companies that host online communities attempt to balance user-generated content and company-sponsored content and activities.

The founding entrepreneur of Honey Care Africa revitalized Kenya’s national honey industry by focusing on small-holder farmers across the country. Central to success was an innovative business model: a synergistic partnership between the development sector, the private sector, and rural communities that drew on the core competencies of each party as well as their complementary roles. This tripartite model was combined with local manufacturing of beehives, effective beekeeping training, a guaranteed market for small-holder farmers through forward contracts, and prompt payments. Four years later, Honey Care had achieved a 68 per cent market share in Kenya and distributed several brands of organic, fair-trade honey internationally, and was a lead distributor of beeswax. The business model had been successfully replicated in neighbouring Tanzania, and there were plans to expand to Uganda and Sudan.

This is a supplement to Honey Care Africa (A): A Different Business Model.

This is a supplement to Honey Care Africa (A): A Different Business Model.

A vice-president of Ventures West, a leading Canadian venture capital firm, must decide what due diligence to conduct in order to recommend an investment in AudienceView, a company that provides software and services for the sports and entertainment ticketing markets. While the case is focused on due diligence, there is sufficient information to allow for a full venture capital investment analysis, including valuation and deal terms.

The chief financial officer (CFO) of Workbrain Corporation (Workbrain) must prepare a memo for the upcoming board of directors meeting. Workbrain, a venture-backed company, has grown substantially since its founding in November 1999. Now the CFO must communicate to the board whether it is time to consider an initial public offering (IPO) and, if so, in which exchange market the stock should be offered. The company must also consider what financing alternatives are available (including maintaining the current venture financing arrangement) and whether the company needs to raise money at all. The CFO is thinking about the memo, knowing that his words will have considerable impact on the company.

This case looks at the issue of whether an investment bank should invest in Tritortric, a privately held Turkish company specializing in white goods. Tritortric is planning an expansion in Europe either as OEM or through the acquisition of an existing European brand. Students will evaluate the attractiveness of Tritortric as a company and to provide guidance related to the mode of international expansion. This case also allows a broader discussion of how a company from an emerging country can compete against companies/brands from a developed one.

Students must analyze the marketing, operating and financial aspects of a personal fitness training centre to be located in London, Ontario, to determine an appropriate pricing and promotion strategy and the resulting projected financial success of the venture. Students need to develop cash budgets based on their assessment of the information provided. The analysis points to the financial uncertainty for a start-up company without hands-on experience from past years of operation. The case is suitable for class or as a report on business plan evaluation.