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Drone Racing League (DRL) sees itself as the world's preeminent professional drone racing league. The company is in its third season of racing and is focused on future seasons and the negotiation of a new media agreement. How should the company proceed?

K-pop is thriving for industry veterans and entrepreneurs alike, but is a complex industry. This case is about launching a disruptive media brand that helps artists secure lucrative sponsorships and partnerships through strategic integration and content marketing. How should a start-up in the K-pop industry strategize to cater to A-listers and/or the under-served part of the market? Is catering purely to the under-served market a better strategy? While disrupting the existing business model and trying to create a two-sided marketplace, how important is communication and research in the K-pop industry?

Constance and Gopal have both quit their jobs at reputed organisations to join the Entrepreneur First (EF) programme to realise their entrepreneurial ambitions. They bring different sets of skills to the table but are united in their desire to do something meaningful at the forefront of technology. They have been admitted to the EF programme in Singapore, which is where their paths first crossed and where they co-founded AIMLedge.

The case explores the possible acquisition by McKinsey &Company of design company LUNAR in response to the new directions management consulting is taking. As of 2014, a new internal unit included 'McKinsey implementation' and 'digital labs', which explored new opportunities for the Firm and soon became major growth vectors for the consultancy. Targeting new capabilities and expertise, senior leadership asks the heads of the Product Development Practice (PDP) to "shoot big" if an opportunity arises. Design is one such capability, but how should they bring it on board: A partnership with an existing design company? An outright acquisition? Or by developing organically, hiring designers to work within the company? Ultimately, the acquisition option is chosen as a way to secure proven design talent, a brand, a portfolio, infrastructure and culture. A team within the PDP pitch a proposal to acquire a design company to the McKinsey advisory board, which gives the green light for a pilot test. McKinsey&Company asks LUNAR to host a workshop (for the redesign of a storage cabinet for laptop computers) and is more than impressed with the result. Discussions to acquire the design firm begin, but strategic, organizational and operational issues must be ironed out first. Students are required to assess whether the acquisition option will succeed, whether there is a better route (with respective advantages and disadvantages), and what organizational levers can be used to optimize LUNAR's integration.

When Alibaba, China's leading digital platform and cloud-based services company, fails to acquire the US firm Moneygram, CEO Jack Ma decides to go it alone and develop a digital strategy using blockchain technology as the basis for a global remittance service, GCash, within its cloud services business. Alibaba's financial services affiliate Ant Financial, begins by targeting cross-border money transfers made by domestic workers in Hong Kong who routinely send money to their families in the Philippines. It subsequently forms a strategic alliance with Globe Telecom and Standard Chartered Bank which provide market access and financial intermediation. The case focuses on the value proposition of blockchain in cross-border financial services, particularly in Southeast Asia, and how it fits into Alibaba's "iron triangle" cloud services strategy in the region where there is fierce competition from Google and Digital Ocean. Blockchain technology is utilized to disintermediate the US-based SWIFT system and the dominant remittance service providers, Moneygram and Western Union, that charge high fees. As an illustration of how to launch proprietary cypto- and blockchain-based networks, the case explains how they differ from digital platforms, and how they are complementary, such as network effects and synergies with Alibaba's installed customer base.

Chatar Patar was a quick service eatery in India that prided itself on serving tasty panipuri that was prepared hygienically from healthy ingredients. The venture was started in 2012 with the plan to first develop a popular and established brand, and then to expand to a multi-store outlet in 2018. The team had prepared expansion plans, favouring franchising as the mode of expansion. Despite their research, in 2016, the team was still undecided about which expansion route to take. The managing director wondered whether it was too soon to expand, and whether the team and the company were sufficiently prepared. Should the company proceed with expansion? And if so, how should the managing director and his team proceed?

In early 2017, Jill Nadison, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the REED Foundation for Autism (REED Foundation) and executive director of REED Academy in New Jersey, was faced with the difficult decision of selecting among three alternatives to support the academy's next venture, REED Next. REED Academy, a non-profit school for children with autism, provided innovative, highly individualized education based on principles of applied behaviour analysis and was supported by the REED Foundation. REED Next was intended to support students who, at age 21, had aged out of REED Academy. The selected option would have to provide long-term, self-sustaining funding for students. Choices ranged from a less-risky option, expanding fundraising, to increasingly entrepreneurial ideas such as opening and operating either an event space or a vertical farm. The CEO was under pressure to make the decision in time for the initiative to begin operations before the 21st birthday of a REED Academy student who would need ongoing therapy to continue to enjoy a good quality of life.

Fairview Capital is a pioneering alternative assets investment manager, as it is the first U.S. private equity fund of funds that focused on investing in private equity and venture capital funds managed by African-Americans and other minority investment managers. This case study focuses on Fairview's strategic decisions that ultimately led to the growth and expansion of its investment portfolio to over $3 billion.

In early 2017, Jill Nadison, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the REED Foundation for Autism (REED Foundation) and executive director of REED Academy in New Jersey, was faced with the difficult decision of selecting among three alternatives to support the academy’s next venture, REED Next. REED Academy, a non-profit school for children with autism, provided innovative, highly individualized education based on principles of applied behaviour analysis and was supported by the REED Foundation.<br><br>REED Next was intended to support students who, at age 21, had aged out of REED Academy. The selected option would have to provide long-term, self-sustaining funding for students. Choices ranged from a less-risky option, expanding fundraising, to increasingly entrepreneurial ideas such as opening and operating either an event space or a vertical farm. The CEO was under pressure to make the decision in time for the initiative to begin operations before the 21st birthday of a REED Academy student who would need ongoing therapy to continue to enjoy a good quality of life.

Chatar Patar was a quick service eatery in India that prided itself on serving tasty panipuri that was prepared hygienically from healthy ingredients. The venture was started in 2012 with the plan to first develop a popular and established brand, and then to expand to a multi-store outlet in 2018. The team had prepared expansion plans, favouring franchising as the mode of expansion. Despite their research, in 2016, the team was still undecided about which expansion route to take. The managing director wondered whether it was too soon to expand, and whether the team and the company were sufficiently prepared. Should the company proceed with expansion? And if so, how should the managing director and his team proceed?

In April 2017, an entrepreneur in the tour operator industry faced a potential investment decision. Her company, Extraordinary Journeys (EJ), created custom luxury African safaris for a US-based clientele. While EJ had enjoyed dramatic growth since its founding in 2009, the entrepreneur worried that competitive pressures were increasing, as resource-rich companies had entered the market, drawn by the industry's rapid growth. In response to this growing competition, Gordon considered taking on one of three possible strategic opportunities: a public relations campaign, a direct marketing campaign, or a firm-optimization campaign that would use custom-built software to enhance employee productivity.

In May 2018, a China-born entrepreneur living in Canada was at a seaside market in Qingdao, China, inspecting inexpensive pearls. She wondered whether pearls presented a good market opportunity in the West. At markets in China, she consistently found cultured pearls that would cost far more in Canada. This experience led her to wonder whether or not it was feasible to sell pearls on a wholesale basis in Canada, or perhaps through one of many retail options. Or was there a reason why pearls—such a timeless product—did not present more of a dynamic market opportunity in the West?

In May 2018, a China-born entrepreneur living in Canada was at a seaside market in Qingdao, China, inspecting inexpensive pearls. She wondered whether pearls presented a good market opportunity in the West. At markets in China, she consistently found cultured pearls that would cost far more in Canada. This experience led her to wonder whether or not it was feasible to sell pearls on a wholesale basis in Canada, or perhaps through one of many retail options. Or was there a reason why pearls-such a timeless product-did not present more of a dynamic market opportunity in the West?

This case examines the founding story California ice cream chain Smitten Ice Cream and CEO and Founder Robyn Sue Fisher, who invented a liquid nitrogen-fueled ice cream machine which mixes the world's smoothest ice cream. Students will be confronted with numerous common entrepreneurial issues including prototyping, dealing with failure, discovering product-market fit, hiring, financing, and scaling organizations.

Founded in 2008, Khan Academy was a global educational nonprofit with a mission to provide a free, world-class education for anyone anywhere in the world. By 2018, the organization had expanded into numerous content areas, product areas, and geographic markets. However, a newly minted 3-year strategic plan called for greater focus and prioritization to enable the young organization to maximize its impact. It also called for increased fundraising efforts to ensure long-term sustainability. The case poses several questions: how to balance Khan Academy's far-reaching aspirational vision for transforming education globally with the short term need for greater focus? Would the priorities set in the strategic plan enable Khan Academy to create systemic global change? How should donors evaluate the attractiveness and impact of a potential investment in Khan Academy relative to other organizations in the educational market? Was Khan Academy on the right path to ensuring long-term sustainability?

In December 2017, the managing director of Nipponply Distributors Private Limited (Nipponply) planned to expand his firm geographically. Nipponply provided plywood products to household consumers, architects, interior designers, and original equipment manufacturers. The company already operated in Gujarat, India, but the managing director had found an opportunity to expand into the western Indian states of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh, where there were large volume requirements in housing, corporate, and industrial projects. The managing director completed a market survey to determine cost- and market-related information. On the basis of his initial analysis, he decided to start an expansion project, but he first wanted to ascertain its feasibility using a cost–volume–profit analysis.

Naked Retreats, a hotel management company that adhered to a localized brand positioning strategy, made its debut in the Chinese hotel market in 2007. To allow customers to experience the restorative effects of closeness to nature, it launched Naked Stables, the first resort in China to have obtained a Leadership in Environmental Energy Design (LEED) Platinum certification. The founder of Naked Retreats, Grant Horsfield, was a South African who felt deeply connected to nature. Horsfield subsequently launched a series of explorative projects related to holistic living, including catering, education, and a co-working space. While the brand had success in some areas of its brand extension, it experienced failures in others. In 2018, Naked Retreats must decide whether to continue its horizontal extension or to focus on its most successful projects.

By the time Dan Doctoroff, CEO of Sidewalk Labs, began hosting a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" session in January 2018, he had only nine months remaining to convince the people of Toronto, their government representatives, and presumably his parent company Alphabet, Inc., that Sidewalk Labs' plan to construct "the first truly 21st-century city" on the Canadian city's waterfront was a sound one. Along with much excitement and optimism, strains of concern had emerged since Doctoroff and partners first announced their intentions for a city "built from the internet up" in Toronto's Quayside district. As Doctoroff prepared for yet another milestone in a year of planning and community engagement, it was almost certain that of the many questions headed his way, digital privacy would be among them.

An analyst at Vaux Gibson Inc., a fund that managed a portfolio of North American equities, was tasked with reviewing the fund’s holdings of Under Armour Inc. (Under Armour) and providing recommendations for the fund’s prospective investment strategy with the company. Under Armour had experienced significant revenues and bottom-line growth over the past three years, but this growth slowed significantly in 2017 and the company reported a net loss, resulting in the significant depreciation of its stock price. The analyst wondered if it was time to exit the investment, providing investors with an above-market return, or if there was still room for Under Armour to recover and grow.

In 2016, the managing director of innogy Consulting GmbH (iCon), an international strategic consulting firm based in Germany, had many reasons to be delighted. The company had risen to second place in an annual ranking of internal consultancies after successfully expanding into four new countries. He now pondered new challenges and directions for iCon, after having led RWE Consulting—the predecessor to iCon—since 2007. As an internal consulting department within the RWE Group (RWE) in Germany, the consulting unit mainly conducted information technology implementation and project management within RWE. Although the managing director had led the consultancy unit into new geographic markets and toward new external clients, iCon faced many challenges, including tough competition in the external management-consultancy market. How could iCon take steps to compete away from home?