Slides 0: Introduction
Slides A: Introduction to Case Studies
Slides 1: Industry Analysis
Slides 2: Competitive Advantage
Slides 3: The Nature of Information Goods
Slides 4: Monetization - Prices and Advertising
Slides 5: Switching Costs and Lock-in
Slides 6: Network Effects
Slides 7: Platform Markets
Slides 8: Innovation
Slides 9: Dynamic Pricing
Slides 10: Reputation
The cases can be found as a course packet: here's part 1 and part 2 and part 3 and part 4. 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.
2nd Oct: Yelp, HBS 9-709-412 with Simon Board.
9th Oct: Netflix, HBS 9-615-007 with Barry Eggers. Please also read these articles about Netflix's relationship with Amazon and HBO.
16th Oct: Twitter, HBS 9-710-455 with James Min
23rd Oct: Android, Stanford SM-176 with Terry Kramer.
30th Oct: eHarmony, HBS 9-709-424 with Simon Board.
6th Nov: Square, Kellogg KEL-792 with Neil Pardasani.
13th Nov: Zillow, HBS 9-913-021 with Kieran Nolan.
20th Nov: eBay and Amazon (A), HBS 9-712-405 with Greg Isaacs.
27th Nov: Happy Thanksgiving!
4th Dec: Movie Theaters, Business Horizons, 2007, p. 491-501, with Andre James.
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 6th; we will then check that the plan is realistic. The final paper is due on the last day of class (Friday Dec 4th). 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 2014 final on Zillow, HBS 9-913-021.
Fall 2013 final on Brightcove, HBS 9-712-424.
Fall 2012 final on Foursquare, HBS 9-711-418.
Fall 2012 final on Dropbox, HBS 9-811-065.
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.