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
The cases can be found as a course packet. You can also buy individual cases for $7 from the HBS website. There is another packet with cases from old finals.
Notes on the case method of teaching.
Advice for the case write-up.
10th Oct: Square, Kellogg KEL-792 with Neil Pardasani.
17th Oct: Netflix, HBS 9-607-138 with Barry Eggers. Please also read these articles about Netflix's relationship with Amazon and HBO.
24th Oct: Facebook, HBS 9-808-128 with Kieran Nolan.
31st Oct: eBay and Amazon (A), HBS 9-712-405 with Gary Schoenfeld.
7th Nov: Twitter, HBS 9-710-455 with James Min
14th Nov: Microsoft adCenter, HBS 9-908-049 with Roger Corn.
21st Nov: Yelp, HBS 9-709-412 with Kim Salzer.
28th Nov: Happy Thanksgiving!
5th Dec: Movie Theaters, Business Horizons, 2007, p. 491-501, with Andre James.
12th Dec: Android, Stanford SM-176 with Terry Kramer.
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 14th; we will then check that the plan is realistic. The final paper is due on the last day of class (Friday Dec 12th). 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 2013:
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 2013 final on Brightcove, HBS 9-712-424.
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 9-810-086.
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.
UCLA Blackstone Launchpad. Located in Covel Commons, Room 203. This is a resource center for students to find out about other groups, events, and have a place to meet other students to create their teams.
Bruin Entrepreneurs is a student run group that meets weekly.
Bruincubate has a list of other entrepreneurship groups on campus.
Other accelerators: Y Combinator, Start Engine, Amplify LA, Launchpad LA.
This American Life on pitching to a VC.