Harvard Business Review

APRIL 5, 2018

The myth of Silicon Valley is that venture-funded entrepreneurship is a generalizable model that can be applied to every problem, when in actuality it is a model that was built to commercialize mature technologies for certain markets. At first, Opus 12 targeted the largest addressable market it could find: ethanol, an additive of gasoline.

Technology 8

Technology Venture Funding Venture Capitalist Entrepreneur 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 23, 2018

Truth is, you can have the right portfolio of investments, the right metrics and governance, the right stage-gate development process, and the right talent on the right teams — but if you don’t design the right handoffs between your teams, all of that planning falls apart. They didn’t have a handoff, they had a drop-off.

Project 8

Project Innovation Team Stage-Gate 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 12, 2013

Young scientists will invent energy-saving or health-promoting products, incubate new ventures while still in college, and sell them to markets eager for ways to control energy or health care costs. Innovative forms of financing, such as Kickstarter, will continue to grow, also invented by social entrepreneurs.

Health Care 15

Health Care Merchandising Incubator Airlines 15

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

They all incubated their business ideas while employed by someone else. Still, with 40% of Americans being self-employed at some point in their lives, it is crucial that we coach entrepreneurial skills even in those who are employed by others or did not ever plan to create their own business.

Leadership 16

Leadership GDP Entrepreneur Incubator 16

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 23, 2015

Machine Shop began to offer its grassroots marketing services to other bands, film studios, TV networks, and brands. I had experience in marketing, business, and finance — all of it outside the traditional music business. For more than a decade, Linkin Park and Machine Shop enjoyed success and continued to innovate.

Business Model 8

Business Model Merchandising Restructuring Fashion 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 1, 2017

For answers to this problem, investors should think about mobile, drones, payment plans, small units, and social structures. And across 11 countries Azuri Technologies provides lighting to villagers not connected to the grid by offering solar panels on micropayment plans through a mobile money service.

Microfinance 8

Microfinance Hotels Entrepreneur Incubator 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 4, 2014

More than two generations ago, the venture capital community — VCs, business angels, incubators, and others — convinced the entrepreneurial world that writing business plans and raising venture capital constituted the twin centerpieces of entrepreneurial endeavor. The business had been funded and grown entirely by its customers’ cash.

Venture Funding 11

Venture Funding Entrepreneur Incubator Advice 11

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

An impatient marketing or finance manager would, on the sly, secure some extra budget money and hire a contractor to build a little database that tracked mailing addresses or top-line financials. In the upper left quadrant are the multi-year rollouts, like large Enterprise Resource Planning or supply chain modernization endeavors.

Supply Chain 15

Supply Chain CIO Budgeting Project 15

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 12, 2013

Young scientists will invent energy-saving or health-promoting products, incubate new ventures while still in college, and sell them to markets eager for ways to control energy or health care costs. Innovative forms of financing, such as Kickstarter, will continue to grow, also invented by social entrepreneurs.

Health Care 8

Health Care Merchandising Incubator Airlines 8

Harvard Business Review

MAY 27, 2015

A supplier might need a working capital loan to finance a big order. In some areas and sectors, the market provides all the capital needed. For example, the market for bank credit for small businesses has been tight, particularly for loans under $150,000. But here again, the market does not always work perfectly on its own.

Entrepreneur 8

Entrepreneur Policies Banking Innovation 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

Only a handful of so-called unicorns — companies that have achieved a valuation of over $1 billion in the last 10 years — come from Israel, and only one Israeli firm, Teva, ranks in the world’s 500 largest companies by market capitalization. That’s disappointing for a country with so much potential. We think so.

Venture Capitalist 8

Venture Capitalist Entrepreneur Marketing IPO 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 17, 2015

This seems to be a key question on the minds of not just marketers, but company strategists these days. This intensive customer focus has increased as technology-enabled transparency and online social media accelerate an inexorable flow of market power downstream from suppliers to customers. How well do you know your customers?

Productivity 8

Productivity Products Customer Intimacy Software 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Just a couple of weeks ago, BuildDirect received $30 million in additional financing led by Venture Capital firm Mohr Davidow. In 2013, after people there identified an inefficiency in the order fulfillment process, a plan to automate part of the process was formulated.

Venture Capitalist 8

Venture Capitalist Brainstorming Proposal CEO 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 26, 2018

To start, innovation must be recognized as a permanent function of a successful company, just like other business functions such as accounting, operations, sales, and finance. Companies need a strategic plan for professionalizing and institutionalizing innovation across their organizations. The same is true of innovation today.

Incubator 8

Incubator Innovation Strategic Planning Human Resources 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 26, 2016

We met with leaders at private equity funds, venture capitalists, and incubators, including Andreessen Horowitz and Playground. The kind of innovation that creates new markets always goes against the grain. Here are the ones that struck us most: Lace audacity with grit. But boldness by itself is a dime-store commodity.

Venture Capitalist 8

Venture Capitalist Company Succession Long-term 8