Remove 2004 Remove 2011 Remove Business Model Remove Finance
article thumbnail

Three Headwinds for Facebook's IPO

Harvard Business Review

When I logged into the site for the first time in the spring of 2004, I was prepared to hate the service. By dedicating a small amount of space on every page viewed and allowing companies to display ads, the social networking giant has developed a multi-billion dollar advertising business. display advertisements online.

IPO 13
article thumbnail

An Insider’s Account of the Yahoo-Alibaba Deal

Harvard Business Review

In hindsight, this thinking turned out to be far less important than what we learned about leadership, control, and trust, which ultimately were reflected in how each of the businesses was created, capitalized, and staffed. We were optimistic about Yahoo’s future in China as the deal closed in January 2004.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

The Making of an Innovation Master

Harvard Business Review

Michael Mauboussin doesn't write about innovation, but his clear writing that blends finance, strategy, and psychology puts him on my list. While Jobs and everything he accomplished at Apple is certainly worth studying, in my mind Lafley is a better role model for practitioners. His 2011 book, The Lean Startup , is a must read.

article thumbnail

The Secrets to TripAdvisor's Impressive Scale

Harvard Business Review

As we have seen with the recent speed bumps at highfliers like Groupon and Zynga, taking "lean startups" from foundation to creating sustainable, scalable, profitable business models is a very rare and special task. Scaling Lesson 1: Focus On Finding A Great Business Model. Magical, really.

EBITDA 8
article thumbnail

What Big Companies Can Learn from the Success of the Unicorns

Harvard Business Review

Snapchat, an idea conceived in 2011, is now valued around $16 billion, with more than 100 million active users who send an average of over 400 million snaps per day. Financed by VC firms. billion in a single round of equity financing, the largest private fundraising round for a VC-backed startup ever.

article thumbnail

What Apple Should Do with Its Massive Piles of Money

Harvard Business Review

There is mounting evidence that buybacks bear substantial blame for the extreme concentration of income at the very top and the disappearance of middle-class jobs in the United States over the past quarter century — a topic I discussed in a recent Harvard Business Review article. From 1986 through 1993, during the Sculley era, Apple spent $1.8