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Beeplus, a designer and operator of co-working spaces, was founded in 2015 by a group of enterprising college students led by Robert Jia. It currently has five co-working space projects in Zhuhai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. This case maps the journey taken by Beeplus and its management team in its foray into the highly competitive co-working space industry, and offers a greater understanding of the critical success factors for a company operating in an aggressive market in China.

Trust: Creating the Foundation for Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries is a four-chapter book with an introduction published by Berrett-Koehler Publisher in 2018 and written by Tarun Khanna, professor at Harvard Business School. Entrepreneurs in developing countries with great ideas cannot rely on the usual foundations for an efficient business climate-laws, regulatory oversight, and government protections-as they might in the developed world. As a result, these entrepreneurs must not only create, but also create the conditions to create. One important lesson of this book is that obstacles to entrepreneurship and the necessary creation of trust in businesses in the developing world must be tackled holistically. The problems facing entrepreneurs in the developing world can neither be easily modularized nor tackled in bits and pieces. Professor Khanna shares many insights with readers on how to build and develop that trust. In Chapter 4, Working as a Team with the State (36 pages), Professor Khanna shows that the developing world is characterized by widespread mistrust of the state, with government seen as incompetent at best and corrupt at worst. Yet, Khanna contends, pillorying the state is pointless. In Brazil, the state made a successful push with conditional cash transfers to move people from poverty to subsistence. But would-be entrepreneurs there have stagnated, lacking a bridge to society's mainstream. If one thinks of the different parts of society as members of a team, the situation is much like the selecão-Brazil's fabled football team-which has fallen apart lately. In India, by contrast, an unlikely entrepreneurial partnership between technologists and the state has leapfrogged the world's tech leaders to provide a billion-plus residents a unique biometric identity where none existed earlier. Both Brazil and India spotlight the need to understand entrepreneurship as a team sport for it to have impact at scale.

Trust: Creating the Foundation for Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries is a four-chapter book with an introduction published by Berrett-Koehler Publisher in 2018 and written by Tarun Khanna, professor at Harvard Business School. Entrepreneurs in developing countries with great ideas cannot rely on the usual foundations for an efficient business climate-laws, regulatory oversight, and government protections-as they might in the developed world. As a result, these entrepreneurs must not only create, but also create the conditions to create. One important lesson of this book is that obstacles to entrepreneurship and the necessary creation of trust in businesses in the developing world must be tackled holistically. The problems facing entrepreneurs in the developing world can neither be easily modularized nor tackled in bits and pieces. Professor Khanna shares many insights with readers on how to build and develop that trust. In the Introduction, Trust, Entrepreneurship and the Developing World (26 pages), Khanna argues that good ideas from the developing world can easily morph into failed ones-coupled with acrimony and mistrust-if an entrepreneur inadvertently presumes on the sustenance of trust-enhancing societal foundations that are much more robust in the developed world. In this context, the entrepreneurial solution is to embrace the situation and to explicitly focus on nurturing trust in myriad ways as a complement to whatever business or societal problem the entrepreneur intends to solve.

Trust: Creating the Foundation for Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries is a four-chapter book with an introduction published by Berrett-Koehler Publisher in 2018 and written by Tarun Khanna, professor at Harvard Business School. Entrepreneurs in developing countries with great ideas cannot rely on the usual foundations for an efficient business climate-laws, regulatory oversight, and government protections-as they might in the developed world. As a result, these entrepreneurs must not only create, but also create the conditions to create. One important lesson of this book is that obstacles to entrepreneurship and the necessary creation of trust in businesses in the developing world must be tackled holistically. The problems facing entrepreneurs in the developing world can neither be easily modularized nor tackled in bits and pieces. Professor Khanna shares many insights with readers on how to build and develop that trust. In Chapter 1, The Why's and How's of Trust (36 pages), Khanna compares the dairy industries of China and India to reveal the why's and how's of trust. Why? Because trust weaves together in a web all those needed for productive enterprise-and because, when this web is torn, there's a dramatic fall from grace. How? There are many ways to weave this web of trust, even in the same prosaic context-the production of milk. The Chinese solution emphasizes speed and high technology. In this chapter, Khanna profiles an entrepreneur borrowing tricks from California's technology industry to make his cows "happy"-while the Indian solution is a slow-but-rock-solid, community-based solution developed over decades and anchoring the future. The disparate entrepreneurial paths to the same high-productivity goal share the emphasis on trust that cocoons everyone, from dairy farmer to end consumer.

Trust: Creating the Foundation for Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries is a four-chapter book with an introduction published by Berrett-Koehler Publisher in 2018 and written by Tarun Khanna, professor at Harvard Business School. Entrepreneurs in developing countries with great ideas cannot rely on the usual foundations for an efficient business climate-laws, regulatory oversight, and government protections-as they might in the developed world. As a result, these entrepreneurs must not only create, but also create the conditions to create. One important lesson of this book is that obstacles to entrepreneurship and the necessary creation of trust in businesses in the developing world must be tackled holistically. The problems facing entrepreneurs in the developing world can neither be easily modularized nor tackled in bits and pieces. Professor Khanna shares many insights with readers on how to build and develop that trust. In Chapter 2, The Mindset Change (26 pages), Professor Khanna argues that in the developing world, entrepreneurs must evolve their mindsets to look at problems as parts of an interconnected set that need to be addressed simultaneously. The entrepreneur rarely has the luxury of focusing only on a single aspect of a complex problem. Of course, this means that she faces a heavier burden than those in a more developed country setting. The story of a surgeon-entrepreneur, Dr. Devi Shetty, shows how this mindset change both elicits and contributes to the web of trust. Trust helps the entrepreneur create the conditions to create.

Trust: Creating the Foundation for Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries is a four-chapter book with an introduction published by Berrett-Koehler Publisher in 2018 and written by Tarun Khanna, professor at Harvard Business School. Entrepreneurs in developing countries with great ideas cannot rely on the usual foundations for an efficient business climate-laws, regulatory oversight, and government protections-as they might in the developed world. As a result, these entrepreneurs must not only create, but also create the conditions to create. One important lesson of this book is that obstacles to entrepreneurship and the necessary creation of trust in businesses in the developing world must be tackled holistically. The problems facing entrepreneurs in the developing world can neither be easily modularized nor tackled in bits and pieces. Professor Khanna shares many insights with readers on how to build and develop that trust. In Chapter 3, Building on Existing Social Norms (36 pages), Professor Khanna shows that entrepreneurs will find it far easier to weave their webs of trust in the developing world if they capitalize on constructive, preexisting social norms and practices. These have often been in place for decades, if not centuries, in long-running, thriving societies. In this chapter, this web of trust can be seen playing out on a nationwide scale with entrepreneurs trying to develop financially and socially sustainable microfinance firms in both Mexico and India, while in the process propelling millions of their clients-mostly poor women-out of their subsistence existence.

In March 2017, Inderjit Baboota, head of Sales and Marketing at Genspec Lifesciences, was preparing to meet with his team to craft the brand launch strategy of the company’s product CQ Max. Although natural therapy was recognized in India for various ailments, few scientific formulations were available. Turmeric was used in various forms in India for the treatment and prevention of a variety of conditions due to its main active ingredient, curcumin, but there was no curcumin-based formulation readily available in the Indian market. In response to this opportunity, CQ Max, the first nanocurcumin product in India, was developed and pilot tested. Though the product played a role in the treatment of a variety of conditions, it primary target market was cancer patients. Now Baboota had to determine whether to position CQ Max as a prescription-based product or an over-the-counter product. He also faced the challenge of an underdeveloped market for cancer wellness products in India.

In 2018, Neat and Clean Solutions (Neat and Clean), a cleaning services start-up in Gurgaon, India, had grown steadily in its 10 years of operations. Its founder realized the importance of building trust with clients and knew that modifying the cleaning process to suit Indian market conditions and the skill set of his team was critical to outsmarting the mounting competition in his industry. However, with an increase in population and the number of residential complexes in the business’s target area, there was a huge market of potential clients available. Although Neat and Clean had managed over the years with the same set-up, its founder wanted to expand so that he could have an office, buy new equipment and more vehicles, operate in multiple strategic locations, and employ more people. Unfortunately, he lacked the necessary funds to make these changes himself. Now he must decide whether to expand the scale of his operations and who to approach for the necessary funding.

This case examines a series of challenges facing the Wikimedia Foundation as it sets its strategic course for the next decade. Topics include mission alignment, non-profit revenue models, technology evolution, regulation and the freedom of knowledge, and building and managing web ecosystems.

The case opens in 2017 with two of the five co-founders of MISHA telling the company's CEO Michal Portz that they believe it is time for the global venture to shut down its operations and cease investments. Portz and another co-founder believe MISHA can still work. The case describes the origins of the ready-to-use capsule solution for shisha smokers and the evolution of MISHA from idea to product design, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution. Consequent mishaps slow down the performance of MISHA, and after five years of the product being in the market and four financing rounds, numbers are far behind what they were in the business plan. The case explores the pivots the company goes through. The central dilemma is this: should the cofounders pull the plug on the company or invest more time and money to try to turn it around? When and according to which criteria should Portz make such a decision?

In 2017, the Canadian cannabis industry was getting ready for the country’s anticipated legalization of recreational cannabis. The chief executive officer of Canopy Growth Corporation needed to make decisions about international expansion in the midst of the company’s aggressive expansion activities, which were already underway in Canada. Other Canadian licensed producers were also engaging in international activities in Germany, Chile, Australia, and other countries where cannabis was recently legalized, either for medical or recreational use. Was it time for Canopy Growth Corporation to focus on the Canadian market, or were the international opportunities too good to miss?

In March 2018, the new business development manager of the international trade department of M/S Padhy Leather Ltd. was trying to find a way to balance her key responsibilities. The manufacturing start-up, located in New Town, India, was in the business of exporting leather garments and was promoted by two young, first generation entrepreneurs. The company had started its export business with a few clients in the United States. The manager’s key responsibilities were exploring new markets and clients. Her immediate target was the United States, after which she would expand the business into Canada. She was concerned with how to minimize the commercial risks (non-payment risks such as transport and country risk) from new and untested clients while developing business and improving profitability.

It was 2014, and the chief executive officer (CEO) of Knightsbridge Custom Homes Limited (Knightsbridge) had just purchased a site for his next project in the rapidly gentrifying East Village neighbourhood of Calgary, Alberta. He had built Knightsbridge on a commitment to three core values: finding great locations, catering to underserved markets, and providing niche products. Since it's founding in 1990, these values had remained the same, but the type of projects undertaken by Knightsbridge had changed dramatically. The company started by building infill homes in inner-city Calgary and estate homes on the city’s outskirts. Then it built multi-family homes in the suburbs and tackled a transit-oriented development in an established area. Now, the CEO was considering developing a no parking, high-rise condominium tower close to the downtown core. High-rise living without parking would be an entirely new concept in car-centric Calgary. Was developing a residential site without parking a viable plan in this growing city? Knightsbridge’s CEO needed to find an effective way to answer this question.

In 2017, Uber, a ride-hailing application that was recognized as the world's most valuable start-up, was considering launching the world's first “urban air transport” service—Uber Elevate. Uber's chief product officer needed to convince the new chief executive officer and the board that electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing vehicles were the future of Uber, and to articulate a strategy to launch the service. But was it the right time to proceed with this bold initiative? Uber had recently seen its value plummet following a string of scandals that had forced its founder and chief executive officer to step down. How could the chief product officer ensure that Uber Elevate would be the success that he believed it would be? What steps were needed to ensure success?

The president and vice-president of BonaVista Pools Limited (BonaVista) needed to decide what to do for the upcoming pool production season. They received notice that the two employees in charge of overseeing the most crucial step of the pool production process were going to be unavailable for the upcoming period. Anticipating a busy season, the president and vice-president needed to decide whether to hire a new nozzle operator, promote their junior nozzle operator, or outsource this crucial step in the pool production process. They needed to look at the financial and operational implications of each option and ensure they maintained the premier standard of BonaVista set by their father.

GoPro, Inc. was an American action camera and software manufacturer founded in 2002 by a young entrepreneur. The company introduced innovative action cameras and became a successful brand with the help of content marketing. It continued its innovative spree for more than a decade and was the market leader in the industry. However, in March 2017, the company faced challenges due to product failures and increased competition, and the introduction of new products in the market. GoPro’s stock price dropped as a result of a loss of confidence by both consumers and investors. What strategies could the company adopt to regain its competitive strength and revive confidence in its brand? What could it do to be more innovative and successful, and in doing so, fend off the low-cost competition?

The case tells the story behind "My INSEAD Story" - a unique book for children based on the INSEAD MBA experience of their parents. Sian Bentson and Ankur Grover came up with the idea as part of their final assignment for the "SPSD: Creative Thinking" course. It subsequently became the basis of a commercial product and, ultimately, a company, StoryPie (storypie.co) - which creates storybooks from the personal experiences of parents. Ankur Grover shares the behind-the-scenes journey, describing the rollercoaster ride from concept development to product launch. The case explains how innovation projects (even for simple products) are carried out - from gathering user insights to ideation, prototyping, and testing - and the sources of uncertainty that a project leader has to manage during the innovation journey. There are two versions of the case. Part 1 describes the product conceptualization as part of a 10-day course assignment. The complete version covers the journey over the two months that followed the course to develop it into a commercial product.