Stanford Graduate School of Business (USA)
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Nova Pioneer in 2019: Becoming a Pan-African School System
Ciesinski, Stephen; Rosen, Howard; Kavanaugh, BlakeCase SGSB-E706-EEntrepreneurshipNova Pioneer was a private school system in South Africa and Kenya that offered preschool through secondary education for students ranging in age from 3 to 19. The earliest of Nova Pioneer’s precursors was Pioneer Academies, founded in South Africa by Chinezi Chijioke in 2013. Pioneer was started to offer the affordable, quality education needed to develop Africa’s next generation of leaders and innovators. In 2015, Pioneer Academies merged with ...Starting at €8.20
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Cumplo in 2019: Regulated Growth Across the Americas
Ciesinski, Stephen; Rosen, Howard; Kavanaugh, BlakeCase SGSB-E707-EEntrepreneurshipNico Shea founded Cumplo in 2011 to enable peer-to-peer lending for consumers before changing the company’s focus to small-to-medium businesses (SMBs). Cumplo was a financial technology (“fintech”) company that provided a platform for SMBs applying for a loan to be matched with investors willing to fund that loan. The platform further differentiated itself among SMBs by allowing companies to use unpaid invoices as collateral. Despite significant ...Starting at €8.20
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Buck Jack Capital: Closing or Quitting
Dodson, David; Kavanaugh, BlakeCase SGSB-E735-EEntrepreneurshipThis case describes how Laura Franklin and William Colt conducted their entrepreneurial acquisition process. After the duo honed their method for contacting potential sellers, they found a company they were excited to close a deal with. Over the course of many months of diligence, and overcoming a large mistake, the duo were prepared to acquire their ideal company – then COVID-19 hit, leading them to consider pausing the deal.Starting at €8.20
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Calyx Capital Partners
Dodson, David; Kavanaugh, BlakeCase SGSB-E736-EEntrepreneurshipThis case describes the formation of Trista Engel and Jessica Markowitz’s search fund. It begins by describing their process for deciding if they should pursue entrepreneurship through acquisition and, if so, if they should partner together. Upon deciding to raise a search fund, the duo work through the process of fundraising. Surprised by the positive response, they are faced with deciding who they should choose to have as investors.Starting at €8.20
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Retail Services & Technologies
Dodson, David; Kavanaugh, BlakeCase SGSB-E737-EEntrepreneurshipThis case describes the tumultuous experience Eduardo Ruiz had as CEO of Retail Services & Technologies. Ruiz had acquired Arizona-based RST at the end of his search process, but soon began to experience difficulties with the seller and former CEO. These difficulties strained Ruiz’s relationships with his board, employees, and key customers. As the situation deteriorated, he faced the prospect of filing for bankruptcy.Starting at €8.20
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Qihoo 360: A Subversive Tiger in the Internet Jungle
Harikesh Nair, Sheila MelvinCase SGSB-M355-EMarketingQihoo 360 Technology Company was a leading Internet platform company in China, the number one provider of Internet and mobile security products as measured by user base. The company entered China’s fiercely competitive Internet market relatively late and adopted the “freemium” model as the basis of its business. “In the beginning,” said Qihoo founder Zhou Hongyi, “Forget how to make money – focus on how to create a valuable service for every cons...Starting at €8.20
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Waste Concern in Dhaka: Scaling a Model for Urban Waste Management
Callendar, Steven; Golden, Joseph; Kavanaugh, BlakeCase SGSB-P104-EBusiness Ethics and Corporate Social ResponsibilityIn March 2006, Iftekhar Enayetullah and Abu Hasnat Md. Maqsood Sinha, the cofounders of Waste Concern, a social enterprise based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and focused on developing innovative waste management solutions for cities in emerging Asia, faced their biggest challenge yet: scaling up their organization’s activities and impact. The previous fall, working with a Dutch recycling firm, Waste Concern had secured approval from the United Nations ...Starting at €8.20
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CircleUp in 2019: Investing in the Future
Siegel, Robert; Kavanaugh, BlakeCase SGSB-E694-EEntrepreneurshipCircleUp was founded in 2012 as a marketplace that matched accredited investors to emerging consumer packaged goods companies. A tool that the team developed early-on to reduce the friction involved in finding and evaluating new companies, Helio, gradually become very accurate in predicting the growth trajectory of early-stage companies. Ryan Caldbeck, co-founder and CEO of CircleUp, decided in 2018 to shut down the marketplace and focus the com...Starting at €8.20