Slides 1: Introduction
Slides 2: Industry Analysis
Slides 3: Competitive Advantage
Slides 4: The Nature of Information Goods
Slides 5: Monetization - Prices and Advertising
Slides 6: Switching Costs and Lock-in
Slides 7: Network Effects
Slides 8: Platform Markets
Slides 9: Innovation
Slides 10: Dynamic Pricing
Slides 11: Reputation
Slides A: Introduction to Case Studies
All the cases can now be found in a folder in Powell library. You can buy them individually for $7 from the HBS website. You can also buy the course packets which lowers to price to $4. I've broken the cases into three packets: Part 1, Part 2 and cases from old finals.
Notes on the case method of teaching.
Advice for the case write-up.
4th Oct: Facebook, HBS 9-808-128 with James Min.
11th Oct: Electronic Arts, HBS 9-804-140 with Yair Landau.
18th Oct: eBay and Amazon (A), HBS 9-712-405 with Greg Isaacs.
25th Oct: Microsoft adCenter, HBS 9-908-049 with Kieran Nolan .
1st Nov: Yelp, HBS 9-809-142 with Julie Lee.
8th Nov: Android, Stanford SM-176 with Terry Kramer.
15th Nov: Zappos, HBS 9-610-015 with Gary Schoenfeld.
Nov 22nd: Netflix, HBS 9-607-138 with Barry Eggers. Also, here is a recent video and an article about their content decisions.
Nov 29th: Happy Thanksgiving!
Dec 6th: eHarmony, HBS 9-709-424 with Simon Board .
You will write the project about a company of your choosing. This will essentially be a mini case study. You should hand in a short proposal by Friday Nov 8th; we will then check that the plan is realistic. The final paper is due on the last day of class (Friday Dec 6th). Please do not choose a company from the below examples or one that we covered in class. Each group must cover a different firm; priority is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis - please email your TA with your firm to register it. The log of companies can be found here.
How do you find a firm? An ideal firm would do something you have a particular interest in. It doesn't need to be big, but you should be able to find data about it. Here are some places you can look: Business Weeks Top 100 Tech firms, Economist Technology Quarterly (each quarter surveys different industries), 2012 Crunchies (you can also check out previous years), CNET News (good for up to date news), Fast Companys most innovative companies of 2013 (you can also check out previous years) .
Advice on the final paper proposal.
Advice on the final paper.
When thinking about the current state of the company, a SWOT analysis can be a useful checklist.
Some projects from Fall 2012: Airbnb, Quantcast, Sodastream, Uber.
Some projects from Fall 2011: Gilt Group, Rovio, Zipcar, the Domino's Pizza.
Some projects from Winter 2011: BlackBerries, Mindjolt, Net-A-Porter, the NBC Universal Merger.
Some projects from Fall 2010: Groupon, Nintendo, Playfish, Tencent QQ.
Rules for the final: You can take 10 single-sided pages of notes with you into the final (or 5 double sided). Calculators are allowed, but will probably not be needed. Blue books are not needed - you will answer on the exam itself.
Fall 2012 final on Foursquare, HBS 9-804-140.
Fall 2012 final on Dropbox, HBS 9-804-140.
Fall 2011 final on Electronic Arts, HBS 9-804-140.
Fall 2011 final on Huffington Post, HBS N9-810-086.
Winter 2011 final on Microsoft adCenter, HBS 9-908-049.
Fall 2010 final on Sermo, HBS 9-809-142.
Advice on the final
Startup UCLA has speakers and a summer accelerator program.
Accelerators: Y Combinator, Start Engine, Amplify LA, Launchpad LA.