...92 Harvard Business Review May 2010 HBR.ORG Clark G. Gilbert (cgilbert@ deseretdigital.com) is the president and CEO of Deseret Digital Media and was formerly a professor at Harvard Business School. Matthew J. Eyring (meyring@innosight.com) is the president of Innosight, a strategic innovation consulting and investment company outside Boston. Beating the Odds When You Launch a New Venture Smart entrepreneurs aren’t cowboys—they’re methodical managers of risk. by Clark G. Gilbert and Matthew J. Eyring ILLUSTRATION: BRUCIE ROSCH F or nearly 20 years the case study used to introduce Harvard Business School’s Entrepreneurial Management course has been Howard Stevenson’s “R&R.” It looks at Bob Reiss, an entrepreneur who launches a venture in the board-game industry. Students are encouraged to explore all the production, development, distribution, and marketing costs associated with the new venture. A cursory reading of the case suggests that it’s a lesson in the rewards that come to an entrepreneur who is willing to take on an enormous amount of risk. Reiss capitalizes on what he correctly foresees is an ephemeral opportunity to ride the coattails of the Trivial Pursuit craze before me-too products flood the market. But a more careful analysis reveals something else entirely. At every turn, Reiss seeks to reduce his risks before making any significant financial investments or operational commitments. For example, he presells a sizable number of units to ensure...
Words: 4235 - Pages: 17
...Harvard Business Review May 2010 Beating the Odds When You Launch a New Venture by Clark G. Gilbert and Matthew J. Eyring Smart entrepreneurs aren’t cowboys—they’re methodical managers of risk. For nearly 20 years the case study used to introduce Harvard Business School’s Entrepreneurial Management course has been Howard Stevenson’s “R&R.” It looks at Bob Reiss, an entrepreneur who launches a venture in the board-game industry. Students are encouraged to explore all the production, development, distribution, and marketing costs associated with the new venture. A cursory reading of the case suggests that it’s a lesson in the rewards that come to an entrepreneur who is willing to take on an enormous amount of risk. Reiss capitalizes on what he correctly foresees is an ephemeral opportunity to ride the coattails of the Trivial Pursuit craze before me-too products flood the market. But a more careful analysis reveals something else entirely. At every turn, Reiss seeks to reduce his risks before making any significant financial investments or operational commitments. For example, he presells a sizable number of units to ensure cash flow. As students come to understand, Reiss actually limits his at-risk capital to the cost of the game design and the prototype. Rather than the high-risk, high-reward seeker he initially seems, Reiss proves to be a manager who constantly identifies risks and finds creative ways to remove them. Tackling the Right Risks First (Located at the end of...
Words: 3885 - Pages: 16
...catalyst to the existence doubts Janet has about her marriage to Ben. The story begins with Janet coming home from a month of visiting her sick sister. She comes home to a dark, cold house in the middle of a storm. Her husband is nowhere to be seen and she obsesses over how much she would love his presence. She sees things such as a face in the window, a dead body in her chest in the cellar, her plants are dead and the cellar door is open. All of these ideas suggest that something is wrong but she blames herself and she questions her sanity for seeing these things. She believes that she is just hallucinating. Janet wonders who killed the woman that is found in her basement and she is afraid they will think Ben did it, because if all of the odd clues are put together, it makes sense. Janet doesn’t want to believe that her very own and fairly new husband would do such a thing. Not until her husband finally comes home does she discover the truth. As all of this is happening and throughout the entire story, the storm serves as a parallel to Janet’s inner thoughts and battles. In “The Storm”, the author uses the storm as a spark to Janet’s inner thoughts about the truth of her doubts surrounding her self worth, the great deal of and unhealthy dependence on her marriage and her struggle to accept her husband’s true identity. During the beginning of the story, Janet has trouble with her low confidence and strength. She struggles internally with being okay with being alone and doing things...
Words: 1423 - Pages: 6
...Charlie Brown’s Leadership Being a leader is a huge responsibility. Leadership requires an individual to possess certain traits that are admirable to followers. Charlie Brown is a leader in his own right. Some would argue with his leadership ability based upon his inability to come out on top with the tricks Lucy so deviously carried out. However, the fact remains that even though Charlie Brown could not win with Lucy, others within his trusted circle believed in him and followed him throughout his endeavors to lead; these followers include Snoopy, Pig-Pen, Peppermint Patty, and Marcie. This paper examines the traits Charlie Brown possessed to make him a leader among his followers and relates the traits to leaders within an organization. Charlie Brown’s first leadership trait included his ability to have determination to succeed. How many times did America see Lucy pull the football away from Charlie Brown at that critical moment when Charlie attempted to kick it? Some individuals would learn the first time of falling on their backs that Lucy was not to be trusted with holding the football. Silver (2011) states “Leaders will sometimes fail, but they take action when they encounter new opportunities for success” (p. 4). Charlie Brown’s determination to succeed became a driving force for him to continue to try kick the football; each time he failed he gained more support from his followers because of his determination to succeed. In an organization, to gain followers...
Words: 699 - Pages: 3
...Joshua Roy Mrs. MC 12/6/12 3 paragraphs Rough draft Roland Dow and Jessica Linscott were on the run from police for the alleged beating of their child. This created a nationwide search as the couple had not been found for over ten days. This alone has created controversy and belief that the couple did in fact beat their child and were on the run because of it. These accusations are false because these young adults were clearly in love with their child and could never do such harm to him. They reported to police that they love their son and these injuries were a case of self infliction. Although it was reported they never brought the child to any doctors, the couple reported saying they cannot afford to pay for medical bills at the time because of the economy. Therefore the child could never receive care after his body had been wounded and it caused great bruising and tenderness. The families of Roland Dow and Jessica Linscott both agreed that the child had in fact created these wounds on his own will. There has not been any disclosure as to what specifically happened but it has been reported the child fell down the stairs and was left much harmed as a result. If both families are in support of their young children’s opinion, and actually agree themselves that these were in fact self inflicted, these two have a high probability of it being true. This case is at such magnitude that the family understands the truth should be told. Roland...
Words: 401 - Pages: 2
...Kept in a small bowl, a goldfish will remain small. With more space, a goldfish can double, triple, or even quadruple its size. I hope, with the help of the Myers’ Scholarship, that I am able to attend a college that is a big enough fishbowl for the growth I desire. I'm pursuing a career involved with education, whether that be special education or school psychology, because I admire the active and positive role education has played in my entire life. Special Education is particularly intriguing to me since my brother has autism: he is highly functional, but him overcoming seemingly inevitable challenges inspire my interest in helping underdogs beat the odds. In order to facilitate students in beating any odds, I would need to be an effective...
Words: 323 - Pages: 2
...The Tell-Tale Heart Q. Choose a novel or a short story in which the author creates a fascinating character. By referring to appropriate techniques, show how the author has created this character and why you found him/her so interesting. Among the many strange and complex short stories by Edgar Allen Poe, ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ has come to be known as one of the most mysterious and psychologically intriguing. The story contains a fascinating character in form of the narrator, which is explored through Poe’s use of word choice, irony, and alliteration, as well as many other thought provoking techniques. The story as a whole explores the themes of perception versus reality, and the question of whether the evil within is worse than the evil without, and Poe delves into these themes using the character he has created to narrate the story. The story follows the murder of an old man and its aftermath, the story told with what seems like dazzling clarity on behalf of the narrator, obscuring the meaning of the act and calling the emotional stability of the unnamed, assumed male, narrator into question. In the very first sentence of the story, Poe introduces irony to draw in the reader, and leaves the beginning purposefully ambiguous to cause intrigue towards the narrator. “TRUE! – nervous – very, very dreadfully nervous I had been, and am; but why will you say that I am mad?” By starting the sentence with the word ‘true’, Poe leads us to believe what we read next will be some sort...
Words: 1499 - Pages: 6
...Case 1: Miracle Case Study Coach Herb Brooks is an exemplary leader who was decisive to the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team winning the gold medal. In this movie, Kurt Russell plays Herb Brooks, the US team coach whose hard-nosed approach turns a group of undisciplined college players into an extraordinary and inspiring hockey team. Coach Brooks uses many characteristics that describe his approach to leadership. First characteristic would be that Brooks was very inspiring which is a positive characteristic and is consistent with TLC’s characteristics of exemplary leaders. Coach Brooks inspires confidence in his team by presenting a convincing game plan for beating the Soviets by showing the U.S. team complete faith that they can beat them. Brooks has a very inspiring speech before the Russian game by saying “if we play them ten times they might wine nine. But not this game. Not tonight. Tonight we are the greatest hockey team in the world!.” The U.S. team was very inspired and regardless of how intimidating the rival team was, Coach Brooks was able to carry his group of players all the way to Gold Medal. Other characteristics that describe Brooks are intelligent, determined, and very ambitious. Coach proves at the end of the movie that he was indeed intelligent and that his game plan was credible all along. He didn’t have many believers initially, but he sure proved the world wrong. Coach Brooks is not your typical coach; he uses many different approaches to build his team by making...
Words: 1289 - Pages: 6
...introduced) as an eager boy the age of seven, diminutive in size but not in intellect, and as relatively curious; He is also not a permanent resident to Maycomb but only a summertime visitor from Meridian. 4.What is spooky about the “Radley Place”? The primary thing that is queer about the Radley Place is it's occupancy by a character named “Boo” who is quite likely mentally challenged or insane as he stabbed his father in the leg once also the the home oozes a persona of unwelcomeness which is extremely strange in the south where it is odd to have one's doors or shutters closed on Sunday. 5.Describe Scout's first few days at school. Scout's first day at school goes very poorly,She gets scolded by the teacher and even disciplined for already knowing how to read write in cursive and explaining why the Cunninghams don't have money or lunch, she also whitnesses her teacher having a mini-breakdown and gets in trouble for beating up Walter...
Words: 265 - Pages: 2
...A summary of ”My son the fanatic” Parvez lives with his wife and son in London, his is really integrated into the British society, and loves to live in England. He care about his son and want the best for him. The sons name is Ali, and one day Ali starts to behave odd. He begins to sell out his stuff, and things that he once loved, that now did not interested him anymore. Parvez becomes very concerned, but he do not know who he can talk to with out feeling ashamed. One day Parvez tell his colleagues out of desperation, about how his son drastic has changed. His colleagues are convinced that Ali, was become a drug addict, and he was selling his stuff, to afford more drugs. As a taxi driver Parvez often, pick up prostitutes late at night. Parvez met the prostitute Betina 3 years ago, and she had been driving with him since. One night Parvez decides to share his troubles with Betina, to heare if she also really thinks that his son is as drug addict. Betina calms Parvez down, and wrights down some symptoms he should be aware of. The next day Parvez observe his son very carefully, to see if there would be any signs of drugs passing through Ali veins, luckily it turns out that Ali is not a drug addict, but a pretty healthy boy. But Parvez does not stop observing his boy, he begins to spy and listen by the door, and soon he found out that his son become a muslim. Parvez decides to take a day of, and go out with Ali to talk things through. But unfortunately it did not went...
Words: 662 - Pages: 3
...Time of the Butterflies tells the true story of the oppression from the dictator General Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. During Trujillo reign many were prisoned and then tortured eventually the victims were also killed. The movie takes place in the time of 1930 to 1961. The main characters of this movie are the three Mirabel sisters with Minerva Mirabel being the head sister when it comes to the resistance. She is known as “the butterfly” to the rebels that are fighting against the government. Basically, Minerva Mirabel becomes the symbol of the rebellion. Unfortunately, the sisters eventually are killed, but it also what brings the dictator Trujillo to an end. Due to their death many up rise and six months after “the butterflies” death General...
Words: 286 - Pages: 2
...The Shakespearean play “the taming of the shrew” uses a series of comedic devices to further advance the plot as both odd and comical situations are applied to show Katharina’s objection to marriage, The manipulation of Christopher sly in order to convince him that he is a lord, and the female disguises used against him which would later lead to the taming of the shrew. Also in order to fully advance the plot Shakespeare used Disguises/ confused gender roles, clever language, family drama, and mistaken identity in order to further the plot and create the comedic undertones that shape the play and the events that revolve around it. Before we are able to divulge into the usage of comedic devices and its correlation with the overall...
Words: 309 - Pages: 2
...a German woman. His family emigrated to the United States in 1922, and settled in Los Angeles, where Bukowski spent most of his life. The city became an integral part of his writing. Bukowski's father was in and out of work during the Depression years, regularly beating the boy. "I had to sleep on my belly at night because of the pain." his father as a cruel, shiny bastard with bad breath. He died in 1958. To shield himself, Bukowski began his life-long occupation with alcohol in his youth. He also suffered from acne – the boils were "the size of apples" – which left scars on his face. During the school years Bukowski read widely, he was especially impressed by Sinclair Lewis's Main Street, Ernest Hemingway's Nick Adams stories, Carson McCullers, and D.H. Lawrence. After graduating from Los Angeles High School, Bukowski studied for a year at Los Angeles City College, taking courses in journalism and literature. He left home in 1941 – his father had read his stories and threw his possessions onto the lawn. However, Bukowski still returned to his parents' house when he was totally broke. During World War II Bukowski lived the life of a wondering hobo and skid row alcoholic. He travelled across America, working in odd jobs: petrol station attendant, lift operator, lorry driver, and an overman in a dog biscuit factory. At the age of thirty-five he began to write...
Words: 261 - Pages: 2
...Cathy Hoos February 23, 2014 Deviance, Crime and Social Control ASSIGNMENT 8A Briefly describe an act of deviance (one that is not illegal) that you have observed. Explain why you consider this behavior to be deviant. How do we punish individuals who engage in this behavior? The act of deviance that I observed and one that still stands out in my mind today occurred back in 1993. I was a Jazzercise instructor teaching classes at a facility in New Jersey. Jazzercise is a choreographed exercise program that attracts mostly women. I had been teaching at this facility for several months and had a nice sized clientele, all of which were women. One night a gentleman arrived at class and signed up for a session. He did take me by surprise, seeing as I had only women customers at that point, although I knew of other classes in the area that had men on their clientele list. Anyway, Michael enjoyed the class and was coming regularly; no outstanding differences were noticed at that point. As time went on though, he started arriving wearing women’s leotards and spandex tights. He also had his nails nicely manicured and was wearing makeup. This was definitely a deviant behavior in my eyes, because he violated the standards of expectations in this situation and went against social norms. When he first arrived, he was wearing a t-shirt and shorts to work out in. As he seemed to get more comfortable with the group, that’s when we started to notice the change. It was gradual...
Words: 717 - Pages: 3
...What could be in a graveyard? As it turns out, everything. There was the sound of a church bell, and zombies came out and about everywhere. Bats were flying overhead, and I could feel the gust of wind they created, the noise of wings beating. I heard a medley of odd noises. I thought they were the false cries of others, but as it turns out, a medley of noises equated to a medley of really odd gross things. Apart from the zombies and bats, there where ghouls, vampires, weird green things that looked like blobs, and off in the distance, what appeared to be a manticore. At this point, I was beyond screaming and crying and closing my eyes, I was wondering what was wrong with my...
Words: 944 - Pages: 4
