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Supplements the (A) case.

Two entrepreneurs, Andrew Ive and Aldo DiBerlardino, are poised to launch their first product. The decisions they make will have a crucial impact on the future of their company.

The general manager faces a difficult decision whether to sell the family business to a publicly listed company with the needed resources and experience to bring the firm to the next level of success. Complicated by complex family relations, including the death of his uncle who ran an Indonesian subsidiary and his father's departure to attend to the large losses from this business, he wonders what the best course of action is. Not the least of his concerns is the increased importance of mainland China business to his Hong Kong company and the problematic nature of some of these activities. In addition, he has a personal ambition to practice law, after suspending these interests for several years to serve the family's needs. (A supplement to this case under the same name, case 9A98F003, addresses a number of social and emotional complexities.)

Presents the conclusions of a 1992 mail survey of Harvard MBAs who started their own businesses. Questions focused on 4 areas: 1) development of the business concept, 2) sales and marketing, 3) finance, and 4) building a staff. The entrepreneurs surveyed include 24 in consulting, 17 in professional services (most financial), and 46 in "traditional" ventures ranging from farming to manufacturing to long-distance phone service. Throughout, the survey responses are directly compared with those from an earlier study of 100 entrepreneurs drawn from the "Inc. 500" list of fast-growing new businesses. Despite differences in the education and capital resources of the two groups, they are shown to be remarkably similar. Includes 82 exhibits and concludes with a summary of "travel tips" for aspiring entrepreneurs. Points to skills, attitudes, and knowledge that will help students considering entrepreneurial careers. Also contains a wealth of data that can provide useful background information on virtually all the topics that a typical entrepreneurship course covers.

The Beta Group is a technology incubator in Menlo Park, CA that has successfully built a portfolio of businesses in the medical, consumer products, and industrial technology sectors by systematically matching proprietary technologies to unmet market needs. Beta has developed a new golf club technology that allows golfers to reduce the dispersion of miss-hit golf balls. The case addresses questions of strategy and finance as Beta considers its options to commercialize the technology. Also presents an opportunity to discuss Beta's unique investment approach.

FastLane Technologies was a young entrepreneurial software company that had developed a powerful language that could help organizations manage, administer and control large enterprise networks. In late 1996 they received an infusion of capital from Newbridge Networks and Celtic House, a venture capital firm. In May 1997, the new vice-president of marketing at FastLane must make his first presentation to the Board of Directors about his proposed marketing strategy for FastLane. The company faced a number of important issues, including whether to focus on the language or application tools based on the language and the most effective strategy for rapidly moving its products into a dominant position in its segment of the emerging market for Windows NT services. Developing effective channels to reach the large organizations that were its target customers was a particularly challenging issue. The case can be used in business-to-business marketing, marketing strategy, strategic market planning courses or in small business or entrepreneurship courses. (A 43-minute video can be purchased with this case, video 7A98A006.)

ONSET Ventures, is a venture capital firm focused on seed-stage start-ups. Describes the principles and strategies the firm has developed over its life. Also presents an in-depth discussion of one of the seed-stage companies ONSET has been incubating.

Presents the background and some details on a possible acquisition opportunity--a manufacturer of ballpoint paint pens for the hobby and crafts industry. Forces students to peel the layers of this initially unattractive opportunity to find potential sources of value. A rewritten version of an earlier case.

"The Band of Angels" is a well-organized but independent group of wealthy entrepreneurs. This case details the principles and processes used by the band and offers two perspectives from entrepreneurs who have been financed.

The case describes the early evolution of Siebel Systems, a sales force automation software company, focusing on issues surrounding Siebel's use of systems integrators as implementation partners and the relationship between implementation and the selling function.

Supplements the (A) case.

A broad set of issues faces a young company in the Internet-based training business as it begins to sell its product to corporate customers. Issues include: profile of attractive candidates, compensation, definition of territory, definition of quotas, and role of regional management.

Stacey Lawson, HBS 1996, started a CAD parts representations database company to help designers and engineers with the design process. The company has completed its product and is starting to sell it. The case examines issues involving the organization of the sales force and the pricing of the product.

While on vacation in Memphis, former investment manager Andy Wilson discovers a unique "tour bus" that travels over land and through water. He decides to transplant the concept to Boston and to add both historical and theatrical features to the amphibious tour. As he tries to start up Boston Duck Tours, Wilson must figure out how to organize and fund the new venture. The challenges seem overwhelming. He has no relevant experience and very little money. The market is untested and, at best, seasonal. Furthermore, the regulatory barriers are high. Wilson's persistence and creativity provide some solutions, but create additional challenges when it comes to harvesting financial value. This case is particularly useful in the Resourcing and Organizing module of a course on New Ventures.

FastLane Technologies was a young entrepreneurial software company that had developed a powerful language that could help organizations manage, administer, and control large enterprise networks. In late 1996 they received an infusion of capital from Newbridge Networks and Celtic House, a venture capital firm. In May 1997, the new vice president of marketing at FastLane must make his first presentation to the board of directors about his proposed marketing strategy for FastLane. The company faced a number of important issues, including whether to focus on the language itself or application tools based on the language and the most effective strategy for rapidly moving its products into a dominant position in its segment of the emerging market for Windows NT services. Developing effective channels to reach the large organizations that were its target customers was a particularly challenging issue. The case can be used in business-to-business marketing, marketing strategy, or strategic market planning courses or in small business or entrepreneurship courses.

Three second-year students at the Harvard Business School decide to buy a company. The case focuses on their thoughts about an entrepreneurial career, their search process, and the evaluation of an Icedelights (an ice cream/cafe) franchise. This is a rewritten version of an earlier case.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 898-196.

Describes a recent Berkeley MBA's attempts to start a business aimed at corporate training via the Internet. Describes the very early efforts at finding an attorney, accountant, and financing, and the interrelationships among these choices.

Describes a real estate development project in Cambridge, MA and evaluates the market, financial, and design issues in this $20 million mixed-use property.

Alexander d'Arbeloff, Teradyne's founder and CEO, is launching his company into the software and network testing business. He has acquired three external start-ups and is beginning to integrate them with the rest of the company. While Teradyne's core business--semiconductor testing--is doing extremely well, it has been nearly 25 years since Teradyne has started a new business that has proven to be successful.