Compared with start-ups, established corporations have many resources and capabilities that ought to give them a head start: customers, products, operations, licenses, distribution, marketing, and capital. But corporations lack one critical capability: the entrepreneurial muscle to take an idea from small to big, from zero to one. The authors describe a new model-the hybrid start-up-which differs from typical internal corporate ventures. It combines .....more

ChatGPT won''t steal your job if you use it to your advantage.

You''ll have to leave a lot behind - but not your relationships.

#1 Be passionate about solving a real-world problem.

In 2020, the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI)''s CEO, Matt Petersen, announced a first-of-its-kind equity earnback program, by which incubated companies could earn back up to half of LACI''s equity ask. To launch the program, Petersen tasked Alex Mitchell, incoming Senior Vice President of Unlocking Innovation, with creating a robust framework to evaluate companies across difficult-to-measure environmental and social impact goals, .....more

A new study shows that when customers identify with a brand, an attack from an "outsider" will spur them to defend it by purchasing it.

This case follows the evolution of pricing strategy at Echosec Systems, a Canadian open source intelligence firm. The case provides information on pricing as the company grows and diversifies its product offerings.

Make it a part of your development goals.

In 2022, Sophie Desormi re arrived at French roboshuttle producer Navya, tasked with charting a new course in a challenging sector. The company, which had recently listed on the Paris Stock Exchange, was burning through cash reserves and needed to transform the promise of its technology into a credible business with a solid revenue stream. In the short term, Desormi re had to decide whether, and if so under what pricing terms, to accept an opportunity .....more

Startups are often evaluated by how well they perform on unit economics, defined as the ratio of a customer''s lifetime value (LTV) to acquisition costs (CAC). A common target for unit economics, advocated by many VCs and analysts, is 3:1 (i.e., LTV/CAC=3). While there is certainly appeal to having a relatively high unit economics - and it provides the firm with a guide on how much to expend on acquiring customers - it is not obvious whether .....more