Established in 1997, the California Research Center (CRC) enriches the intellectual activities of HBS faculty and fortifies the connection between the Boston campus and the West Coast. The center’s primary mission is to facilitate faculty research and case study writing on West Coast companies, with an emphasis on California, specifically the San Francisco Bay Area. Since its opening, the CRC has helped develop more than 250 cases, which are used in all academic units within the School's MBA and Executive Education programs.
Research has focused on topics such as scaling startups, angel and venture investing, acquisition-related manufacturing integration processes, the commercialization of technology, capacity issues at biotech companies, and growth challenges for clean-tech companies. Popular cases over the years include:
The CRC Office is a 6-7 minute walk from Burlingame Caltrain station. The closest BART stop is Millbrae station which is a 10 minute taxi ride to the CRC.
Facing a surge in investor interest in EdTech during the COVID-19 pandemic, GSV Ventures must decide whether to raise a larger Fund #2
LooksRare launched a decentralized and anonymous organization to compete against NFT marketplace leader OpenSea. By launching its own cryptocurrency, LooksRare attempted to lure users with a digital rewards program. The nature of the organization and its business model, however, brought challenges that are unique to the blockchain industry.
This note provides an update on the space financing state of play in 2021.
Aleph Farms, an Israeli food-tech start-up, was hoping to play a major role in disrupting the conventional meat sector. Compared to intensive agricultural practices, Aleph’s cultured (or lab-grown) meat solution held the promise of considerably reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the use of land and water, while providing a new source of food for a rapidly growing world population. With much of the science already worked out, the company was now facing a host of challenges as it planned to launch its first product—a cultured steak. In particular, Aleph’s CEO, Didier Toubia, and his management team had to figure out the best way to position and bring to market its innovative steaks, with a debut expected in late 2022 in Singapore. Management fully recognized potential barriers to consumer adoption and strived to build a relevant brand image. On the production side, the company knew it had to scale quickly and continue to bring down costs so that its steaks approached price parity with conventional meat. Yet given the intensive capital expenditures involved, this was no simple feat. Planning for the longer term, the company was beginning to consider its next product line.
In July 2019, James Currier, a general partner at San Francisco-based NFX Ventures, was considering a seed stage investment of $1.5 million in Moov Technologies, a B2B marketplace for used industrial equipment. NFX was a venture capital firm focused on seed-stage investments in technology businesses that utilized one or more of 15 network effects that NFX identified, viewing such businesses as having asymmetric upside potential. Currier saw growing potential in B2B marketplaces, which had taken a backseat to B2C marketplaces in the early 2000s. But market dynamics were changing as Millennials took the reins in legacy industries and looked for ways to bring the ease and speed of B2C marketplaces they were accustomed to in their personal lives to the workplace. NFX had already invested in one B2B marketplace and was now considering Moov, which operated in the pre-owned semiconductor manufacturing equipment market—estimated to have a market size of $8 to $10 billion. The business model was predicated on the fact that large manufacturers like Intel typically bought manufacturing equipment that had a 15-30 year useful life, but only used it for 3-5 years before swapping it out for newer models. The used equipment then either sat idle while it depreciated or was sold to other manufacturers through brokers. Steven Zhou, Moov’s founder and CEO, had worked as a broker in the semiconductor equipment industry for 6 years; he used that experience to launch Moov in 2017 to digitize the equipment resale process through an online marketplace. As a seed stage investor, Currier knew he had to rely heavily on his assessment of the team, the product, and the sector. Currier acknowledged that Zhou was relatively inexperienced and would need mentorship. Yet Currier was impressed by Zhou’s work ethic and “hustle.” He was also encouraged by the fintech growth potential for Moov, including adding services such as insurance, shipping, and vendor financing. There was also potential for Moov to branch into other vertical markets, although Currier realized that this could be a challenge for the Moov team, given that their experience was limited to semiconductors. Currier had to decide whether to invest in a second B2B marketplace, and if so, was Moov the right one?
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Allison Ciechanover oversees the team that develops teaching cases and supports faculty research on West Coast companies, and has written over two dozen cases on tech companies. She also serves as the School’s liaison with the West Coast entrepreneurial community, assisting with MBA admissions, alumni relations, and MBA job search activities. She received her B.A. (magna cum laude) from the University of Pennsylvania, her MBA from Harvard Business School, and a Masters of International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies.
After graduating from Harvard Business School, Allison worked in the Goldman Sachs Investment Management Division. She later led Process Improvement efforts in the Finance Group at Invitrogen (now Life Technologies). Most recently, Allison was a VP for Investments at Pacific Corporate Group, a La Jolla-based private equity fund of funds. Prior to her years at HBS, Allison was an Analyst in Goldman Sachs’s Executive Office, and a Researcher for the U.S. Department of Treasury Office of the Assistant Secretary for International Affairs.
George has worked in Silicon Valley in roles ranging from product management to speechwriting. He worked for companies including VMware, Cisco, EMC, Hitachi, as well as startups in healthcare and education. George has an interest in machine learning and cognitive science. He enjoys playing piano and unicycling.
George received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from San Jose State University and MBA from Harvard Business School.
Jeff worked at Facebook on the Public Content Operations team, and later as a Marketing Writer at a Mountain View-based education technology startup. He spent his early career as an associate at the conservation organization WildAid (in San Francisco and Cambodia) and at Outside PR & Sportsmarketing, a boutique outdoor-industry firm. He has also taught several writing courses at Boston University and Northern Arizona University, where he was Editor-in-Chief of Thin Air Magazine.
Jeff received his B.A. in History from Columbia University, where he started for the NCAA Division I Baseball team. He received an MA in English from the Northern Arizona University and a MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) from Boston University. He lives in the Bay Area with his wife, Yvonne, who earned her MBA from HBS in 2014 and has since served as Marketing Director for several technology startups. In his spare time, he writes short stories and along with his dog, Dipsea, is an avid trail runner.
Nicole started her career as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co, working in San Francisco and New York with a focus in the consumer, retail, and media sectors. After McKinsey, Nicole served as a Director of Strategic Planning at PepsiCo in Purchase, NY and worked with Indra Nooyi -- who at the time was leading PepsiCo’s strategic planning group. Nicole’s specific engagement at PepsiCo centered on the company’s restaurant group, later spun out as Yum! Brands. Nicole helped launch the CRC when it first opened in 1997 and wrote many of the early cases at the CRC. In addition to her professional experiences, Nicole has served on the board of directors of CuriOdyssey, a children’s science center, and on the board of the Hillsborough Schools Foundation. Nicole received her MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School and her B.A. in Economics from Stanford University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.