Cold Call

Harvard Business School Professor Len Schlesinger and TypeCoach President Rob Toomey join Brian Kenny to discuss the two mini cases, Night Two in Hanoi: Team Dynamics Under Pressure and Day 6 in Buenos Aires: Fatto Bene. They explore MBA students’ journeys through the first-year FIELD Global Capstone course and how utilizing the TypeCoach personality classications taught them how to recognize and work across cognitive differences, ultimately improving team dynamics and their final project outcome. Cold Call listeners have complimentary access to the same suite of six TypeCoach tools provided to HBS students at this link: https://www.typecoach.com/podcast-cold-call

In early 2024, six months after the highly anticipated launch of Microsoft Copilot across the 62,000-person Microsoft Customer and Partner Solutions (MCAPS) organization—one of the world’s largest sales organizations—the initial excitement had not yet materialized into widespread adoption and transformation. But, two years after initiating their AI transformation journey, the organization’s daily active usage of AI tools had reached over 60% and monthly active usage over 98%, significantly altering how sales professionals approached their work. The path to adoption had required Microsoft to evolve its approach based on early deployment insights. The company had simultaneously developed autonomous sales agents capable of managing end-to-end customer interactions. Unlike Copilot, which acted as an assistant in the flow of work, Sales Agent could take action on its own: it was designed to automate the sales process under pre-specified constraints or guardrails. This innovation presented new and unique challenges. Harvard Business School Associate Professors Iav Bojinov and Shunyuan Zhang join Brian Kenny to discuss the case, “Microsoft Customer and Partner Solutions: The Deployment of Copilot and Agents.” They explore the company’s journey to successfully mobilizing AI adoption within the sales process, the challenges it faces integrating autonomous sales agents, and what it takes to get thousands of employees to fundamentally change how they work.

Over 26 years at the helm, Dimitri Papalexopoulos, fourth-generation CEO of TITAN Cement, has turned the company from a domestic player into an internationally diversified group and championed an AI-driven productivity leap, even while steering the company through multiple economic crises. As TITAN prepared for its next phase of growth, Papalexopoulos faced the consequential decision of whether to continue leading the company, promote a trusted insider, or become the first in the company’s history to recommend to the board appoint a non-family CEO. After a global search the board does decide to appoint Marcel Cobuz—ex-LafargeHolcim executive with deep innovation experience—as TITAN’s first non-family CEO. Cobuz co-creates a four-pillar roadmap: sharpen the core cement portfolio, accelerate low-carbon products and aggregates, build a tech-driven innovation engine and empower country units while tightening performance accountability. Two years on, TITAN posts record revenues and profitability, green products reach 30% of output and a minority stake in TITAN America lists on the NYSE. Yet initiative overload strains the organization, raising the question: is Cobuz’s stretch agenda visionary or too much, too fast? Harvard Business School Professor George Serafeim and TITAN former CEO Dimitri Papalexopoulos join Brian Kenny to discuss the case, “Transforming a Titan,” exploring digitalization, globalization, and succession planning of an established family business as well as how to accelerate low-carbon efforts in a carbon intensive industry.

In 2021, a breakthrough in sanitation technology – developed under the Gates Foundation’s “Reinvent the Toilet” challenge – stood ready for commercialization. The Single User Reinvented Toilet (SURT) offered an off-grid, self-contained system capable of processing waste, generating water, and reducing environmental impact. Turning this technical success into a viable product, however, meant confronting intertwined challenges around behavior change, infrastructure compatibility, financing models, and stakeholder incentives. Against this backdrop, engineer Dr. Shannon Yee and his team faced a tough decision about SURT’s path to market: pilot the technology independently in a developing market, license it to appliance firms, or tailor it for government or military procurement. Each path entailed distinct strategic, operational, and ethical implications for how a technology designed to serve the world’s most underserved populations would scale. Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Maria Roche and SURT engineer Dr. Shannon Yee join Brian Kenny to discuss the case “Toilets for the Underserved: The SURT Commercialization Challenge” and the central question of how to launch and then scale a technology particularly important for underserved markets, but not a lucrative short term investment opportunity.

After launching Wasabi Technologies, a successful cloud storage company, founder and CEO David Friend was ready to scale the venture rapidly. The company had focused primarily on direct sales, but an opportunity to pivot toward channel sales was on the horizon. However, making this pivot would mean changing its sales, marketing, and staffing strategies dramatically, and effectively veering the company away from its already successful course. Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Lou Shipley joins Brian Kenny to discuss the case, “Wasabi Technologies” and the questions Friend wrestled with: Was channel sales the right play for the burgeoning cloud storage provider? If so, how should it best be implemented? They also explore ideas connected to Shipley’s new book, Unlikely Entrepreneurs.

Software startup InsightSquared had recently hit $2 million in revenue and secured an $8 million round of venture capital. However, the founders disagreed on the path ahead, specifically on the sales and marketing plan. Should they focus on a sales-centric approach to growth or a marketing-centric one? Which strategy was optimal for their venture’s next phase of growth? Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Mark Roberge joins Brian Kenny to discuss the case, “InsightSquared: Developing the Sales and Marketing Plan” and ideas related to his new book, The Science of Scaling. They explore the penultimate startup question of how to scale and point to the importance of implementing and communicating an effective sales and marketing strategy.

In August 2017, Commonwealth Bank of Australia was looking for ways to differentiate itself from competing banks and was also trying to improve the financial well-being of its customers. One area where this was particularly relevant was in its bank-issued credit card business, where customers routinely selected cards that — although profitable for the bank — could be a poor fit for their needs. This led to low customer satisfaction scores, cancellations, and occasionally, financial distress. The bank decided to experiment: Rather than just presenting the strengths of its various credit card offerings, they proposed also promoting each credit card’s drawbacks. Being transparent with customers might help them make better choices, but would those choices come at the expense of bank performance? Harvard Business School Professor Leslie John joins Brian Kenny to discuss the case, “Commonwealth Bank of Australia: Unbanklike Experimentation” and ideas related to her new book, Revealing: The Underrated Power of Oversharing. They explore the benefits and potential drawbacks to the bank “oversharing” information with customers.

The U.S. Men’s Olympic speed skating team devised a new approach to the team pursuit event following their disappointing performance in the 2018 Winter Olympics. The team saw promising initial results from their innovations, but they faced a decision about whether to reveal their new techniques. The U.S. Team’s strategy was easily imitated if competitors witnessed it in a race, but it was a risk not to test it in competition before the Olympics. And, were there possible upsides to imitation if it improved the entire sport? Should they share their techniques, and if so, when? Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Rebecca Karp joins Brian Kenny to discuss the case, “A Winning Strategy: Innovation in Olympic Speed Skating.” They explore whether and when to launch a novel idea, product, or service, and what are the consequences—good and bad—to being imitated.

Founded in 2015 by co-hosts Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal as a hobby, the business podcast Acquired had become their full-time jobs by 2023, and they managed all aspects of the company. By telling in-depth stories of companies, the podcast had doubled its audience year over year, reaching one million listeners per episode. And they’d grown without a strict release schedule or relentless optimization. Still, they felt pressure to scale. They took 2025 to evaluate the podcast’s success to date while determining if, and how, it should change its well-established and revenue-generating processes. Because maintaining the balance of work, life, and family they’d achieved was an important priority too. How did they determine a way forward? They join Harvard Business School Professor Shane Greenstein and host Brian Kenny to discuss the case “The Acquired Podcast: Scaling the Mic.”

In 2025, Golden Goose, the Italian luxury brand known for its handcrafted, distressed sneakers, was at a turning point. Under CEO Silvio Campara, the company had grown from cult favorite to global player, with $650 million in revenue and a loyal following. What should drive its next phase of growth? Should Golden Goose double down on its signature sneaker business, grow into a full lifestyle label with ready-to-wear and accessories, or expand into new international markets? Harvard Business School Professor Juan Alcacer and entrepreneur Alexandre Daillance discuss their co-authored case, “Golden Goose: Reshaping Luxury,” with host Brian Kenny. They explore how the company has challenged fashion norms by embracing imperfection, co-creating with customers, and rethinking what it means to scale a luxury business.

Equitable, a 163-year-old financial services firm, serves more than five million clients across three main lines of business: retirement planning, wealth management, and asset management. Spun out of French insurance giant AXA in a 2018 IPO, Equitable’s leadership team was excited to be out on its own but quickly realized that to overcome inertia and remain relevant, the company’s ways of working would need to change. In 2019, CEO Mark Pearson launched an effort known internally as New Ways of Working, or NWOW, aimed at helping the firm become faster, more accountable, and more adaptive in a highly competitive and regulated industry. Several years in, the effort sheds light on core leadership questions: What does true cultural change look like? What makes it last? And how do leaders bring skeptics along? Harvard Business School Professor Das Narayandas joins Pearson and COO Jeff Hurd to discuss the case “New WOW at Equitable: A New Way of Working.”

With the holiday season upon us, and thrifting a major trend, we’re sharing an episode of Harvard Business School’s Climate Rising podcast that’s focused on extending product life, reducing waste, and the growing role of resale in the circular economy. Climate Rising is all about what businesses are doing, can do, and should do to confront climate change. In this episode, “Extending Apparel Lifespan,” HBS Professor Mike Toffel talks to ThredUp CEO James Reinhart about why ThredUp chose to build a national logistics and technology platform for resale. They also talk about how the company partners with big brands to run their own resale channels and how AI and automation are reshaping the industry. It’s an insightful conversation for anyone interested in sustainability or circular business models.

In 2020, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase made two bold organizational moves: going fully remote and banning political discussion at work. These decisions, aimed at reinforcing a mission-first culture, were supported by a written, codified approach to company values and a hiring philosophy designed to attract talent aligned with that mission. In this episode, Chief People Officer L.J. Brock joins case author and HBS professor Charles Wang and host Brian Kenny to discuss how Coinbase’s strategy, explored in the case “Mission First at Coinbase,” raises critical questions about focus, inclusion, and attracting top talent in a volatile industry.

Jenny Wolfram founded BrandBastion in 2013 after noticing that many companies’ social media pages were teeming with spam, hostile messages, and unanswered comments—all of which chipped away at customer trust. She built an AI-powered platform, supported by human moderation, to help brands manage comment sections at scale, respond quickly to customers, and protect their reputation. Wolfram joins the company’s Head of Operations and Finance, Vesa Rikkinen, Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Julian De Freitas, and host Brian Kenny to discuss the HBS case “BrandBastion: Managing Online Brand Communities.” They explore key decisions brands face, including when to step in and respond to customers online, and how to make the case for investing in moderation.

Apollo Global Management has transformed itself from a traditional private equity giant into an insurance-fueled credit powerhouse—thanks to its acquisition of life annuity issuer Athene. CEO Marc Rowan makes a bold bet that an asset-heavy model, which is backed by hundreds of billions in long-term insurance liabilities, can drive repeatable, superior returns and propel Apollo’s assets under management to $1.5 trillion. However, public markets award Apollo a multitude on its earnings that is far lower than asset-light peers like Blackstone, which highlights important trade-offs. Harvard Business School professor George Serafeim joins host Brian Kenny to discuss the questions raised by the case, Apollo Global Management, and explore what Apollo’s transformation reveals about business-model innovation and risk management in today’s rapidly evolving private markets ecosystem, and what it means to be a modern investment firm.

Tata Power stood at the forefront of India’s energy transition. The firm’s long history was deeply intertwined with the country’s development. As Mumbai’s power needs increased, Tata Power built out thermal assets across India, and while thermal power generation remained Tata Power’s mainstay, the firm slowly started diversifying. By 2024, Tata Power was India’s largest private power producer by installed capacity with annual revenues of $7.4 billion. In 2020, Tata Power boldly announced a commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050, concurrent with a complete phase-down of thermal capacity. It later brought this commitment forward to 2045. To prepare for declining revenues from thermal power generation, it was actively expanding its renewable business, but stakeholders had concerns about Tata Power’s ambitions. Was the firm’s decision to sacrifice potentially high returns in thermal power generation financially imprudent, or did it position the firm well as India inevitably accelerated its energy transition? In this episode, host Brian Kenny welcomes Harvard Business School Professor Vikram Gandhi and Tata Power CEO Praveer Sinha to discuss the case Tata Power and India’s Energy Transition, and how India’s largest private power producer is reimagining its future. They explore how the legacy energy company should allocate capital between proven thermal assets and emerging renewable technologies, and what lessons the company’s journey offers for leaders navigating disruption, investor expectations, and the balance between profits and purpose.

In April 2024, writer, podcaster, and entrepreneur Tim Ferriss—known for his hugely popular podcast “The Tim Ferriss Show” and NYT-bestselling books like The 4-Hour Workweek—found himself at a crossroads. Although his podcast was generating millions annually, he questioned the sustainability of podcasting and his own competitive advantage given the increasingly saturated market and the advent of AI tools and video-centric formats. Plus, he had built his career on anticipating cultural shifts in knowledge work, health, and media consumption while making early angel investments in companies like Uber, Shopify, Facebook, and Twitter. But his podcast’s reliable cash flow also funded his science-focused foundation, so making any shifts would be very consequential. He faced a difficult choice: innovate from within his proven format, pivot to entirely new ventures—possibly in film, premium consumer products, or venture capital—or risk a slow decline by maintaining the status quo. Complicating matters further was Ferriss’s desire to start a family, a goal he prioritized above all business ventures. Every month of indecision narrowed his window for successfully transitioning. Senior Lecturer Reza Satchu and Tim Ferriss joined Cold Call host Brian Kenny to discuss the case, “Tim Ferriss: What Might This Look Like If It Were Easy?” in front of a live audience on October 7, 2025 in Harvard Business School’s Klarman Hall auditorium. Using “The Founder Mindset” framework from the course created by Satchu, they explore testing assumptions, calibrating risk, and how to choose the next path in the face of multiple options—which can often lead to inaction.

For 35 years, Dollar Tree, a discount retail chain selling general merchandise, had held its fixed price point steady, pricing all of its household items, food, stationery, books, seasonal items, gifts, toys, and clothing that made up its diverse and ever-changing assortment at $1.00. While all other dollar store chains had raised prices over the years to keep up with inflation, Dollar Tree had never budged on its price. However, in late 2021, the company announced that Dollar Tree was “breaking the buck” and raising prices on all goods to $1.25. Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Jill Avery and host Brian Kenny discuss whether the retail chain could remain relevant to its price sensitive shoppers through smart marketing, pricing, and branding strategies in the case, “Dollar Tree: Breaking the Buck.”

In the winter of 2023, Lyft was facing declining market share and financial pressures. Enter new CEO David Risher, who took the helm amid low morale and limited resources. His challenge: reignite innovation, refocus the culture, and find new ways to stand out in an industry dominated by Uber. Harvard Business School professor Ranjay Gulati joins host Brian Kenny to discuss the case “Lyft 2023: Roads to Growth and Differentiation.” They explore how Risher led during a strategic crossroads, making bold decisions, putting the customer front and center, and shaking loose old habits. Gulati also shares insights from his new book, How to Be Bold, illustrating how courage becomes a competitive advantage in times of uncertainty.

How do you scale innovation in a system where critical pieces are out of your control? That is the challenge Highland Electric Fleets faced as it worked to replace diesel school buses with electric vehicles across the United States. While Highland provided financing, infrastructure, and fleet operations, success depended on external partners, including manufacturers, utilities, and districts. Delays and disruptions forced the company to stay nimble and deliver under pressure. Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Highland Electric founder and CEO Duncan McIntyre join host Brian Kenny to discuss the HBS case “’The Wheels on the Bus’ Go Electric.” They explore what it takes to scale a climate solution while sustaining momentum and coordinating across public and private sectors.

In 2020, Atlassian committed to a fully distributed model, allowing employees to work from anywhere, permanently. While many tech peers later reversed course on remote work, Atlassian optimized its approach, developing data-driven routines, rethinking office spaces, and reshaping team rituals for its 12,000 employees in 13 countries. By 2024, these practices had moved beyond HR policy to become central to the company’s strategy. Lessons from Atlassian’s internal experiments began to shape its collaboration software, turning its workforce into an innovation lab. But selling these practices to enterprise customers posed a new challenge: unlike Atlassian’s traditional self-serve model, distributed work transformation required hands-on support, strategic advising, and cultural change, capabilities the company had not previously built into its go-to-market approach. Harvard Business School Associate Professor Ashley Whillans joins host Brian Kenny to discuss the case “Designing the Future of Work: Atlassian’s Distributed Work Practices” and the questions Atlassian’s leaders face: how to scale what works without losing flexibility, how tightly to integrate practices into products, and how to guide customers through a distributed work transformation that requires more than software alone.

When Happi Co. CEO Sam Rockwell partnered with Snoop Dogg and his son, Cordell Broadus, to launch Dr. Bombay Ice Cream, the team set out to disrupt a stagnant market with innovative flavors and culturally resonant branding. By combining Happi Co.’s operational expertise with Snoop Dogg’s global influence, the brand quickly secured placement in 80% of U.S. national grocery retailers and projected $20 million in first-year sales. Now, as Rockwell considers strategic next steps for marketing, fundraising, and diversification into new markets, he must also navigate the complexities of a creator-led brand. That includes balancing roles and responsibilities while keeping the company nimble and culturally relevant to reach its goals. Rockwell and Harvard Business School professor Bill Kerr join host Brian Kenny to discuss Kerr’s HBS case “Dr. Bombay Ice Cream,” which explores the creation, growth, and strategic decisions behind a lifestyle brand fueled by bold ideas and storytelling.

Shake Shack started in 2001 as a hot dog cart in New York City’s Madison Square Park. It’s now a global fast-casual restaurant chain renowned for both quality and hospitality. In 2024, following a rapid rollout of digital tools like kiosks and mobile ordering, Chief Growth Officer Stephanie So found herself asking, had Shake Shack built a model that could truly scale, or one that still needed work? That question came during a leadership transition and amid ambitious plans for growth. Digital orders were up, and average check sizes were higher, but the shift also raised new challenges. Would automation undermine the guest experience or change what it meant to work at Shake Shack? Could personalization and operational efficiency coexist with the company’s hallmark hospitality ethos? Harvard Business School professor Chris Stanton joins So and host Brian Kenny to discuss the case “Shake Shack’s Playbook for the Digital Era.” Together, they explore what it means to scale hospitality in a tech-driven industry and how Shake Shack is balancing brand values, digital adoption, and the evolving role of its frontline team.

During a busy travel season, digital travel platform Booking.com wanted to try an experiment that would mean changing the site’s landing page. The CEO at the time, Gillian Tans, made the decision to lean into the company’s “test everything” culture—even if it meant failure. In this episode from 2019, Harvard Business School Professor Stefan Thomke and host Brian Kenny discuss how past experience and intuition can be misleading when attempting to launch an innovative new product, service, business model, or process. Instead, Booking.com and other innovative firms embrace a culture where testing, experimentation, and even failure are at the heart of what they do. As you plan your summer travels, enjoy this episode about cultivating an experimental mindset with insights from the case Booking.com and Professor Thomke’s book Experimentation Works.

Ming Min Hui, executive director of Boston Ballet, is unique in her field. As a young, Asian American woman with a Harvard Business School MBA and a background in finance, she has focused her tenure on ensuring the ballet company stays true to its art form and simultaneously relevant to its times. Hui had worked for eight years at Boston Ballet as chief of staff and chief financial officer before taking the helm. Now leading one of the foremost ballet companies in the United States, she confronted evolving demographics, shifting audience habits, and an increasingly challenging financial environment. Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Edward Chang and Hui join host Brian Kenny to discuss the case Ming Min Hui at Boston Ballet. They explore how she balances the past, present, and future—and how these lessons translate from this nonprofit arts organization to any company, anywhere.

Bill Wilson was an incredibly entrepreneurial young man with tremendous potential. He was also a drunk who had hit rock bottom. Then an epiphany led him to enduring sobriety. With his personal drive and fellowship with former drinking buddies, Wilson built a social movement and worldwide organization. Founded in 1935, Alcoholics Anonymous has helped millions of “friends of Bill” recover from alcohol addiction. In this episode of Cold Call, Harvard Business School Professor Robert Simons joins host Brian Kenny to discuss the case, Bill Wilson: Changing the World. They explore how Wilson navigated life’s choices, transformed his life and those of others, and left a lasting impact on the world.

Keurig Green Mountain (KGM) created a new category of consumer products, becoming a household name in at-home coffee brewing in North America. But by the early 2010s, the public company had lost momentum and suffered a series of product missteps, negative media scrutiny, and ongoing challenges to its partner relationships. In late 2015, the company was acquired by JAB Holding Company. The new CEO Bob Gamgort led efforts to turn the newly private company around by strengthening partnerships, upping productivity, and reducing costs. In 2017, the company was then able to focus on new growth. Gamgort had to decide the best strategy from four major options: take the company public again through an IPO; set out for greater global expansion; combine with another coffee business to become a larger player in North American coffee; or diversify beyond coffee through a “pure play beverage” strategy. Harvard Business School’s Senior Lecturer David Fubini and Research Associate Patrick Sanguineti join host Brian Kenny to discuss these options from their case, “Keurig: A Return to Growth.”

The 2023 movie Barbie and its accompanying marketing blitz incited a worldwide craze. Suddenly Barbie was everywhere, a celebrated icon reinstated at the forefront of cultural conversation. This flourishing of goodwill stood in contrast to decades of criticism of the Barbie brand. Although proponents had celebrated Barbie for her promise to “inspire the limitless potential in every girl,” detractors felt that the doll promoted a narrow beauty standard and perpetuated gender stereotypes. In this episode of Cold Call, Harvard Business School Professor Elie Ofek and coauthor and doctoral student Ryann Noe join host Brian Kenny to discuss the case “Barbie: Reviving a Cultural Icon at Mattel.” They explore how Mattel planned to sustain the Barbie brand’s positive momentum and replicate the doll’s success across other toy brands in the company’s portfolio.

Launched in 2011, Duolingo grew into the most downloaded education app in the world. By late 2024, it boasted 100 million monthly active users, 8 million paid subscribers, and a market capitalization approaching $15 billion. The success stemmed from a gamified approach to learning, use of adaptive AI technology, and alignment of incentives: maintaining a streak on the app not only helped users master a language but also drove subscription growth and reduced costs. Duolingo had focused almost exclusively on language learning. But the company recognized the enormous potential of Gen AI to power innovative products, such as conversational language practice. Severin Hacker, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, envisioned a future in which AI would transform the app into an educational ecosystem that covered many subjects beyond language, allowing the company to tap into the $56 billion edtech market. Duolingo had recently started to explore this direction by adding new subjects, such as math and music. HBS Senior Lecturer Jeffrey Rayport and coauthor Nicole Keller join host Brian Kenny to discuss the case “Duolingo: On a Streak” and the long-term benefits and risks of this diversification strategy.

In 1948, Elia Nuqul fled his hometown in Palestine with his family to Jordan. The refugee overcame many hardships and started a trading business in 1952. Nuqul Group subsequently grew into one of Jordan’s largest family businesses. Its flagship company, Fine Hygienic Holding (FHH), was a leader in hygienic paper products across the Middle East and North Africa. Nuqul died in 2022. In March 2023, his son Ghassan Nuqul, the chairman of FHH, was at a crossroads. He and his three siblings had decided to split the Group’s assets among themselves so that each branch of the family could forge its own path. They were in discussions to finalize the details of the agreement. In this episode, Ghassan Nuqul and Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Christina Wing join host Brian Kenny. They discuss what it means to continue a family business into future generations, what determines legacy, and how business decisions affect family ties in the case “Ghassan Nuqul and the Nuqul Group: Preserving a Father’s Legacy.”

In 2021, Donna Lee and Duncan van Bergen founded Calyx Global, a carbon credit rating company. The startup worked to improve the quality of carbon credits sold in the voluntary carbon market. Organizations buy those credits to use in their decarbonization efforts to meet net-zero commitments. The firm had carefully avoided perceptions of conflicts of interest. But Lee and van Bergen faced a series of dilemmas. It was a challenging time for the industry. They had to decide whether changing the business model to tap new revenue streams would jeopardize their trustworthy reputation. In this episode, HBS Professor Mike Toffel and Duncan van Bergen join host Brian Kenny to discuss the company’s business model, its approach to ratings, and the emerging competitive landscape in the case, “Calyx Global: Rating Carbon Credits.”

How important is it to maintain a happy workforce? With this question in mind, Lanco Medical Group, a small but fast-growing pharmaceutical distributor serving Latin America, approached the design of their employee benefits and incentives program. But there were gaps between what leadership believed motivated employees and what employees truly valued. With ambitions for regional and market expansion in the next few years, motivating and retaining employees was a top priority for the leadership team. So, the organization systematized the collection of data about drivers of employee motivation. Priorities varied by age group, organizational role, and geographic locations. A one-size-fits all solution was unlikely to succeed. In this episode, HBS Professor Susanna Gallani discusses the case “Lanco Medical Group: Fostering Happiness for Growth” with host Brian Kenny. They highlight the tensions between accommodating employees’ preferences, maintaining fairness, and operating a manageable incentive program amid the pursuit of aggressive international growth targets.

Porsche has reigned as one of the world’s leading sports and luxury car companies for nearly 80 years. Central to the German automaker’s growth strategy is creating stellar customer experiences and great products, such as the legendary 911 Carrera sports car. But the automotive industry is undergoing disruptive changes and bringing new competitive challenges from around the world. Company leadership is adapting Porsche’s product portfolio, recently adding the electric model Taycan. They’re also innovating new customer experiences like the “Track Your Dream” program. In this episode, Harvard Business School Professor Stefan Thomke explores how the storied company will continue to change in a bid to stay relevant—yet also remain true to its legacy—in the case “Porsche.”

Google formally announced the innovative video game service Stadia at the 2019 Game Developer Conference. The company invested substantial resources and time into building a network able to support the demanding requirements of cloud gaming. But the early uptake by premium video gamers was disappointing. The leadership team faced a decision. Should they double down on the streaming strategy, refocusing Stadia on the casual gamer segment? Or should they pull the plug altogether? In this episode, Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Derek van Bever and coauthor Akshat Agrawal explore Google’s strategic choice, which is featured in their case “Google Stadia: Game On or Game Over?”

Cold Call is celebrating its tenth year of distilling Harvard Business School case studies into podcast episodes. To kick off the 2025 anniversary, the show’s production team has curated three of their favorite episodes from 2024. Host Brian Kenny recommends How One Leader Overcame Career-Ending Adversity with HBS Senior Lecturer Tony Mayo. Show producer Robin Passias offers How to Bring Good Ideas to Life: The Paul English Story with HBS Professor Frances Frei and entrepreneur Paul English. And audio engineer Craig McDonald highlights Angel City Football Club: A New Business Model for Women’s Sports with HBS faculty member Jeffrey Rayport and football club cofounder Kara Nortman.

Artificial intelligence is changing how we live and work in ways large and small. It’s why Cold Call has tackled the topic several times. And it’s why today we’re sharing an episode of Harvard Business School’s Managing the Future of Work podcast, hosted by Professors Bill Kerr and Joe Fuller. The show is all about the forces, like AI, that are reshaping the nature of work. In the episode “Microsoft’s AI perspective: From chatbots to reengineering the organization” from February 21, 2024, HBS Professor Bill Kerr talks to Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President of Modern Work and Business Applications at Microsoft. They discuss how the tech giant is experimenting its way from AI assistants to autonomous agents as it engages with stakeholders. The conversation also touches on the company’s relationship with OpenAI and ensuring the technology is employed responsibly.

In 2022, Deion Sanders, known as “Coach Prime,” became head football coach of the University of Colorado Boulder (CU). Sanders was hired to bring CU’s struggling football program, which had only one winning season in the previous 15 years, back to glory. Many observers were excited by the idea of having the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee and two-time Super Bowl champion as CU’s new head coach. But some questioned whether Sanders had the experience needed to turn around a team in a highly competitive athletic conference. In addition, several wondered whether his “old school” leadership style, which demands a high level of discipline and personal accountability, would be effective with today’s student-athletes. Still others doubted whether his approach would be sustainable. In this conversation with host Brian Kenny, Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Hise Gibson discusses Sanders’ leadership style and effectiveness in the case “Deion Sanders: The Prime Effect.”

One of the oldest Black-owned security firms in the United States, Johnson Security Bureau, provided mainly unarmed guards to New York banks, public works, and hospitals. The company’s status as a woman-owned, minority-owned firm had been crucial to its competitive strategy since CEO Jessica Johnson-Cope took over the firm from her father. In order to grow the family business, however, Johnson-Cope considered partnering with security firms in other states, something that threatened to put some of the company’s founding priorities on the back burner. She also considered expanding the business into cybersecurity. In this conversation with host Brian Kenny, Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Henry McGee and CEO Jessica Johnson-Cope discuss the issues of scaling a minority-owned family business that are at the heart of the case “Johnson Security Bureau: Building Multigenerational Success.”

Entrepreneur Duke Rohlen creates California-based Ajax Health under a new model for innovation and business growth. Calling it the “Chassis and Growth Drivers” model, he structures it to create innovative new products to capture a higher portion of the financial returns. Partnering with major private equity firms, Rohlen considers a $1 billion bid to buy Cordis. If Ajax’s bid is successful, they will invest an additional $300 million to fund an off-balance sheet accelerator, which will develop innovative new products to drive revenue growth. Should Rohlen and his partners invest the $1.3 billion to implement this model? Is Cordis the right opportunity for Rohlen and his team? Ajax Health founder Duke Rohlen (HBS MBA 2001) and HBS Professor Regina Herzlinger join host Brian Kenny to discuss the key success factors for both start-up and established medical technology firms. The case “Ajax Health: A New Model for Medical Technology Innovation” showcases how to structure a firm—in any industry—to maximize innovation and financial returns by better aligning incentives for the different skill sets required.

In 1985, pop music superstar Michael Jackson instructed his attorney, John Branca, to bid for the Northern Songs music catalog, which contained the songs of the Beatles. In a challenging negotiation, Branca secured the rights to the collection. Over the next three decades, first as Jackson’s attorney and later as the executor of his estate, Branca undertook numerous complex negotiations to secure and expand Jackson’s music publishing empire until it became the largest music publishing company in the world. Harvard Business School professor James K. Sebenius joins host Brian Kenny and a live audience of Harvard Business School alumni to discuss how to deal with tough negotiators effectively and ethically in his case, John Branca: “Negotiating the Beatles’ Northern Songs Catalog.”

With operations in 70 countries and 20,000 employees, Pernod Ricard is a leader in premium international spirits. The company had achieved its leadership position in the market largely through strategic acquisition and an ability to build and grow its brand over time. But pressure to continually expand its extensive brand portfolio in order to meet customer demand meant that its traditional analog processes were not allowing the company to effectively manage its huge portfolio of products. In response, the company launched four key digital programs (KDPs) aimed at using data and artificial intelligence to automate processes and enable data-driven decision-making. Pernod Ricard’s future direction with the KDPs depended on addressing internal resistance, providing effective training and support, aligning with strategic goals, and overcoming logistical and data-related hurdles. The company needed to find a way to expand these programs into new markets while reinforcing adoption where they had already been launched. Harvard Business School assistant professors Iavor Bojinov and Edward McFowland III explore the opportunities and challenges of the company’s digital transformation journey in the case, “Pernod Ricard: Uncorking Digital Transformation.”

Katie Holyfield and Taylor Matkins founded Lucky Ones Coffee in 2017, a coffee shop with a mission to create jobs in Park City, Utah, for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The company quickly earned strong support from the local community, and by early 2023, Holyfield and Matkins employed 17 people across two coffee shops. The two entrepreneurs must now decide how to grow their business to create more jobs and how to structure the business to ensure that it remains a sustainable and financially sound enterprise as it scales. Harvard Business School professor Rick Ruback and one of the case’s co-developers Joe Higgins discuss the business case for hiring employees with disabilities, “Lucky Ones Coffee: Employing People with Disabilities.”

Sequoia Capital, a venture capital firm founded in 1972, grew to become one of the most storied venture capital firms in the world. The firm’s investment track record includes the names of some of the largest global companies. But the venture capital industry began facing new challenges in 2022, and investors were increasingly cautious. At that time Sequoia also began restructuring the firm and made other changes to their core identity. What would all of this mean for the future of Sequoia, and would the firm still be able to maintain their historical dominance? Harvard Business School senior lecturers Jo Tango and Christina Wallace discuss their case, “Sequoia Capital.”

Early in her career Brooke Boyarsky Pratt (MBA 2013) enjoyed considerable success in roles at McKinsey and Berkadia, a Berkshire Hathaway portfolio company. But a routine visit to the doctor in 2020, where she experienced weight stigma yet again, led her to address the problem of obesity care. Boyarsky Pratt had struggled with her weight since she was young. So when she started knownwell, an integrated weight and primary care provider that was designed to support people with obesity, it was a huge step for her both personally and professionally. In the spring of 2023, knownwell opened its first weight-inclusive clinic in the Boston area. But Boyarsky Pratt had to make a fundamental decision on how she wanted to grow the company. Should she grow slowly and build a small footprint of clinics in the Boston area over the next few years? Or should she scale fast to potentially help millions of people across the U.S.? Boyarsky Pratt joins Harvard Business School assistant professor Jon Jachimowicz to discuss what it means to pursue your passion in the case, “Choosing the Course of Passion: Brooke Boyarsky Pratt at knownwell.”

In 2017 Fawn Weaver launched a premium American whiskey brand, Uncle Nearest. It became the fastest growing and most awarded whiskey brand in America, despite the challenges Weaver faced as a Black woman and outsider to the spirits industry, which is capital-intensive, highly regulated, competitive, and male-dominated. In October 2023, Weaver announced plans to expand into cognac with the goal of building the next major alcoholic beverages conglomerate. But the company was still heavily reliant on capital. How could Weaver convince new investors that her plans for cognac would yield success? Harvard Business School senior lecturer Hise Gibson discusses Weaver’s leadership style, growth strategies, and her use of storytelling to connect customers with her brand in the case, Uncle Nearest: Creating a Legacy.

In February 2023, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was deciding whether or not to sign off on a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for $39 billion in direct semiconductor manufacturing incentives. But this NOFO had several unconventional provisions: a pre-application (pre-app) to the actual application, upside sharing provisions to align incentives, and funding milestones so that only awardees making progress would receive additional funds. The funding had been made available through the U.S. Department of Commerce by the CHIPS (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors) and Science Act passed a few months earlier. Raimondo’s team had proposed additional measures that would help the U.S. regain technological leadership while protecting taxpayer funds. Should Raimondo move forward with the “innovative” NOFO, despite the risks? Harvard Business School professor Mitch Weiss explores the issue of risk-taking and innovation in government in his case, “The CHIPs Program Office.”

Angel City Football Club (ACFC) was founded in 2020 by venture capitalist Kara Nortman, entrepreneur Julie Uhrman, and actor and activist Natalie Portman. As outsiders to professional sports, the all-female founding team had rewritten the playbook for how to build a sports franchise by applying lessons from the tech and entertainment industries. Unlike typical sports franchises that built their teams and track records over many years before extending their brand beyond a local base, ACFC had inverted the model, generating both global and local interest in the club during its first three years. The club’s early success was reflected in its market valuation of $250 million as of its sale in July 2024 — the highest in the National Women’s Soccer League. Equally important, ACFC had started to bend the curve toward greater pay equity in women’s sports — the club’s ultimate goal. But the founders knew there was much more to do to capitalize on the club’s momentum. As they developed ACFC’s first three-year strategic plan in 2024, they weighed the most effective ways to build value for the franchise. Was it better to allocate the incremental budget to investments in digital brand building or to investments in the on-field product? Senior Lecturer Jeffrey Rayport is joined by case co-author Nicole Keller and club co-founder Kara Nortman to discuss the case, “Angel City Football Club: Scoring a New Model.”

In early 2023, Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera, started developing the EdTech firm’s strategy for incorporating generative AI into their offerings. He asked his teams to focus on value to the firm and cost of implementation, and they identified four key projects: powering translations and modifying content format and delivery, personalized coaching, an automatic course-building tool, and building out new GenAI-related academic content. By early 2024, the firm had made significant progress in bringing these capabilities to market, but GenAI was evolving quickly and Coursera needed to continuously improve its offerings. While the firm had been an early mover, competitors were adapting fast. Was Coursera taking full advantage of the opportunities presented by the technology? What more could it do to remain competitive? Harvard Business School professor Suraj Srinivasan discusses those questions in the case, “Coursera’s Foray Into Gen AI.”

In 2019, Nadine Vogel, founder and CEO of Springboard Consulting, needed to decide the best path forward to grow her small consulting firm. Springboard works with Fortune 500 companies on issues related to disability and workforce. Should Vogel expand the topics she works on with her current clients, or should she explore the possibility of moving into a new market of smaller businesses? Vogel joins Harvard Business School professor Lakshmi Ramarajan and Harvard Kennedy School professor Hannah Riley Bowles to discuss her experience starting and scaling her firm in the case, “Nadine Vogel: Transforming the Marketplace, Workplace, and Workforce for People with Disabilities.”

Ten years ago, Robin Kovitz became President & CEO of Baskits—now one of Canada’s leading gift services companies—by purchasing the company from its two retiring founders. Baskits was an acquisition that had many of the qualities that lead to success for first-time CEOs, including recurring customers and a record showing years of profitable operations. But it was also a seasonal business, which is a potential red flag. This episode is an exclusive introduction to a new podcast from Harvard Business School: Think Big, Buy Small, hosted by HBS professors Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff. The show is an extension of Ruback and Yudkoff’s courses on small firms, including Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition, which has been taken by thousands of MBA students, and their highly-regarded book, HBR Guide To Buying A Small Business. The episodes guide listeners through the different milestones of the journey to acquiring an enduringly profitable small business. In this episode, they chat with Kovitz about her search process, investment criteria, and how she managed risk before and after purchasing Baskits. Listen to more episodes of Think Big, Buy Small and follow the podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/s_29KAs0?sid=coldcall.