Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 30, 2014

The typical enterprise software startup that IPOs is at least 7 years old (to say nothing of those that try and fail). In the year before Google IPO’d, it did about $962 million in revenue. People often like to reference Apple as an example of a company that figured out how to use innovation to drive growth.

Long-term 10

Long-term Innovation Company IPO 10

Harvard Business Review

JULY 24, 2017

Major organizational changes, covering everything from recruiting and branding to regulatory approvals and marketing, happened in rapid succession, with a hard deadline of 12 months to get it all done for the IPO — and 18 months from the IPO until our full separation from GE. Change management certainly tested us.

Management 10

Management IPO Diversity Long-term 10

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 26, 2018

On February 13, 2018, the New York Times reported that Uber is planning an IPO. Twitter reported a loss of $79 million before its IPO, yet it commanded a valuation of $24 billion on its IPO date in 2013. For example, Google can service billions more clients with the same office just by adding to its server capacity.

Company 8

Company Intangible Assets Depreciation IPO 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 2, 2016

How should leaderships invest to make their users – not just their platforms – measurably better? Before the company’s $155 billion IPO in 2014 — the largest initial public offering in history — he observed, “we want to help small businesses grow by solving their problems.” Think APIs and SDKs.

IPO 8

IPO Human Capital Insurance Business Model 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 30, 2016

Amazon, for example, has learned that same-day delivery could increase revenues significantly, and it is also aware that new insurgent start-ups such as Instacart and WunWun are focusing on the instant delivery of certain products, so it has invested in its own delivery fleet, drone technology and more.

Supply Chain 13

Supply Chain Company IPO Talent Management 13

Harvard Business Review

MAY 16, 2012

One of our most striking findings was that of the entrepreneurs we surveyed who had a successful exit (that is, an IPO or sale to another firm), about 70% did NOT start with a business plan. A colleague of mine offers the hypothetical example of selling a bar of soap for a dollar every month to just 0.5% percent of the people in China.

Planning 20

Planning Mintzberg IPO Entrepreneur 20

Harvard Business Review

JULY 17, 2017

For example, PayPal’s acquisition of Braintree didn’t just help the company modernize its online payment portal; Bill Ready (who was formerly CEO of Braintree) is now actively leading change and positioning PayPal for the future as the company’s COO. This focus on people is key.

Industry 12

Industry Short-term Planning Long-term 12

Harvard Business Review

MAY 16, 2016

For example, as it grew, Facebook found that its early “move fast and break things” culture had to be funneled into focused technical teams and product groups to make its product development process faster and less erratic, and for it to have a chance of meeting the demands of its new public shareholders following its IPO.

Banking 14

Banking Strategy Film Operations 14

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 9, 2018

Take Jim, a front-runner CFO candidate for a leading medical device manufacturer on the verge of an IPO. Our CEO Genome research uncovered that stronger candidates for leadership positions are more effective at persuading others, including their peers. No matter how uncomfortable, you need to be clear about the feedback.

Career 15

Career CFO Sample Execution 15

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 27, 2014

I still remember when Steve Jobs was featured in business school case studies as an example of bad leadership style. Other examples abound once you look for them. Organizations that entered when VC fundings were booming were increasingly likely to fail, and those financed in a VC funding boom were unlikely to make it to an IPO.

Entrepreneur 8

Entrepreneur Venture Capitalist Business Incubator IPO 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 4, 2016

Silicon Valley lore offers examples of exceptional founder-CEOs, such as Salesforce.com’s Marc Benioff, who were able to lead their companies through an IPO. That means 55% of them remain at the helm while their company scales. Founders who recognize this bring in partners whose skills complement their own.

Venture Capitalist 8

Venture Capitalist Sample IPO Long-term 8

Rajesh Setty

DECEMBER 4, 2008

Here you’ll find more than 1500 articles and mini-sagas on entrepreneurship, leadership, creativity and simply how to distinguish yourself. During the private beta we will engage with some influentials (example A-listers ) and our goal is to convert these influentials into evangelists. HELLO THERE AND WELCOME. Its even 100% free!

Blue Ocean Strategy 30

Blue Ocean Strategy CPM Licensing Open-book 30

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 29, 2015

Brian Fitzpatrick joined Google as a senior software engineer in 2005, shortly after the company’s IPO. In our view, Brian’s work is an excellent demonstration of strategic leadership. But Brian’s accomplishment challenges conventional definitions of strategic leadership. They work with an eye toward scale.

Strategy 8

Strategy Power Idea Generation Project 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 6, 2014

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. Ma and the Alibaba leadership team would retain management control. Tsai, for example, clearly understood U.S.

Chief Financial Officer 10

Chief Financial Officer Operations Learning-by-Doing IPO 10

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 19, 2014

Two years ago, for example, GMI Ratings gave the company a governance score of 9, “indicating higher accounting and governance risk than 91% of companies,” and an ESG (environmental, social, governance) grade of F. Boards Leadership Technology' So, basically, Oracle is a horribly governed company, but it seems to be pretty well run.

Company 8

Company Chief Technology Officer IPO CEO 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 19, 2011

The news had just hit that Danny Lewin — the co-founder of Akamai Technologies, its charismatic CTO, a former commando in the Israeli Special Forces, and MIT mathematics genius who led the company from a math class to an IPO and a market cap of $30 billion — had suddenly died. They think.Danny.was.supposed to be.,"

CTO 10

CTO Lewin IPO Mentor 10

Harvard Business Review

JULY 27, 2017

Talented founders know that corporations simply cannot replicate the deep experience private VCs have in starting companies, nor their expertise in assisting startups with complex challenges such as deal making, business modeling, resolving disputes among founders, executing a successful IPO, and so on.

Venture Capitalist 8

Venture Capitalist Meyer Innovation Fixed Costs 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 27, 2018

The number of listed firms can decline because of three developments: 1) bankruptcy, failure, or closure of listed firms, 2) delisting of firms going private or acquired, and 3) decrease in number of initial public offerings (IPOs). For example, Uber and AirBnB remain private despite having achieved valuations of double-digit billion dollars.

IPO 11

IPO Company First-mover Advantage Intangible Assets 11

Great Leadership By Dan

MAY 29, 2012

All you need to do is browse the headlines and you’ll easily come up with examples of what not to do as a leader. Don’t launch an IPO and get married in the same week. Last, but not least - and I'm sorry to have to mention this in a family leadership blog - don't ever, ever, have sex at work , under any circumstances.

IPO 240

IPO Leadership Follow-up Education 240

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 21, 2016

The galleys on Norwegian’s ships, for example, were separated from dining areas, which meant that in this new scheme passengers had to wait a long time for food. That’s because overload is a surmountable crisis—under the right leadership. The concept was revolutionary, but the execution proved difficult.

Company 9

Company IPO Price Loyalty 9

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 7, 2017

All of this indicates that Uber leaders prioritized immediately useful services like recruitment over, for example, legal compliance systems, audits, and leadership development. Today Uber is no startup, with 11,000 employees, not including its drivers, and a 2017 market value at IPO that is estimated as $28–$70 billion.

Compliance 11

Compliance Hedge Human Capital Finance 11

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 1, 2015

The most recent example is AOL, recently acquired by Verizon — but this merger won’t be the last. For many consumer tech companies, this post-IPO pressure on financial returns is too high. Facebook tried to ignore Wall Street pressure in 2012 upon its IPO, but quickly decided to shift course after experiencing attrition.

IPO 8

IPO Company Maturity Short-term 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 4, 2015

We’ve found that CEOs of big pharmaceutical companies, for example, are more likely to have a background as company lawyers, salespeople, or finance managers, than one in medicine or pharmaceutical R&D. For example, Qualcomm’s CDMA mobile technology was a breakthrough that led to its IPO in 1991.

CEO 8

CEO Innovation Pharmaceuticals Merchandising 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

A significant part of telecom equipment maker Huawei’s leap from regional player to global leader, for example, was due to its partnerships with Motorola in 2000, 3Com in 2003, and Symantec in 2008. Samsung is one of the best examples. Overcoming China’s own barriers. Politicians in the U.S. China’s Next Great Transition.

Brand 8

Brand Globalization Company Development 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 20, 2014

In this letter, I’d like to explain more fully why I view the $51 billion already spent by Apple on open market (including accelerated) share repurchases under your leadership as a major misallocation of resources for both the company and the U.S. Unlike Mr. Icahn, I do not write to you as an Apple shareholder (I hold no Apple shares).

Innovation 10

Innovation EPS Incentives Supply Chain 10

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 11, 2015

For example, several years ago an institutional investor delegation led by Stephen Roach, chief economist for Morgan Stanley, visited the Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen. Another example of this customer-first attitude comes from another early episode in their history that’s since become something of a company legend.

Succession 8

Succession Golden Handcuff IPO Long-term 8