What Went Wrong?
Prim: How a Lack of Passion and Resolve Can Kill a Business
1. Why is passion such a critical part of entrepreneurial success? Prim’s
founders were apparently passionate about building a company but not the
laundry business specifically. In what ways is this combination
problematic?
The number one characteristic shared by successful entrepreneurs is a passion
for their business. The passion typically stems from the entrepreneur’s belief that
the business will positively influence people’s lives. Prim’s founder may have
mistakenly developed a passion for starting a business rather than a passion for
the business they started. This is problematic because once the initial excitement
of starting the business was over (and the business started experiencing
challenges), the founders were left with the day-to-day grind of running the
business and may have found that they were not as interested in the (laundry)
business as they originally thought they would be. One way to check whether
one’s passion is real is to work in the industry your firm will participate in (over
an extended period, if possible) to see if you like it. Some franchise
organizations, for example, require prospective franchisees to work in one of the
company’s franchise outlets for a period, just to ensure that they like the work
before they become franchisees. , starting a business is a rewarding yet
challenging process. There will be many ups and downs. A person’s passion for
the business that he or she starts is what sustains one during the challenging
periods.
2. How could Prim’s co-founders have better anticipated that laundry services
would eventually see Prim as siphoning off their own business and be
reluctant to work with them?
One thing Prim’s co-founders could have done prior to starting the business is
complete a thorough feasibility analysis. By talking to laundry services in
advance, the founders may have gained an awareness that their business model
was not viable.
3. Rather than employ its own drivers to pick up and deliver laundry for its
customers, Prim relied on the use of third-party delivery services. In what
ways do you think this approach could have limited Prim’s growth in other
markets?
Yes because Prim was a pick up and delivery service. It picked up it’s customers
laundry, took the laundry to a laundry service to have washed and folded, and
then returned the laundry to the customer. If Prim had developed unique
capabilities in performing this taks, it could have extended its pick up and
delivery service to other industries. Instead, Prim outsourced this service so it
has limited the Prim’s growth in othe markets.
4. San Francisco, the city in which Prim launched, has several innovative
laundry services. These services include LaundryLocker, where you drop
your clothes in a public locker; Sfwash, a delivery service where you pay by
the pound; and Sudzee, which requires special lockable bags. Spend some
time studying LaundryLocker ([Link] Sfwashy
([Link] and Sudzee ([Link] Select the service that
you think has the most potential and explain the rationale for your selection.
Compare the service to Prim’s approach.
Laundry Locker’s customers place their laundry in a locker and the customers is
notified by text when the laundry is finished and returned to the locker (within
two business days). Swash picks up your laundry (at your home or business) and
returns it to the same address. The pick up and delivery times are done within
agreed upon windows of time. Sudzee offers two options. It offers home pick up
and return, similar to Sfwashy. It also offers a service where customers can place
their laundry in a large secure container in a Sudzee bag. Sudzee will notify the
customer when the laundry is done. The laundry can be retrieved from the
container via a secure four-digit code. Pricing seems to be similar across the
companies. Sudzee seems to be the best—capturing the advantages of both
Sfwash, which offers a pick up and delivery service, and Laundry Locker, which
offers a dropoff and retrieval service as explained. It also beats out Prim, which
offered only the pick up and delivery service.
Savvy Entrepreneurial Firm
Pandora: What’s Possible When an Entire Company Has “Tenacity”?
1. How do you think Westergren was able to persevere through 300 rejections
before an investor finally said yes to Pandora’s attempts to raise additional
money?
Westergren founded Pandora in 1999, so the company was his baby. Although
the case doesn’t give us much insight into Pandora’s lean years, Westergren
must have been passionate about Pandora and its service to stick it out through
the years. He was the first person to go without pay, so he led by example. Only
passion and belief can explain how he persevered through 300 rejections.
2. If you had been a Pandora employee during the time the firm was
essentially broke, would you have agreed to work for no money?
Westergren provided two reasons that the employees present at the time
were willing to work without pay. Would these reasons have been good
enough for you? Explain your answer.
Students will vary in terms of how they answer this question. Most students will
say that if they believed in Pandora and they had a close-knit relationship with
the others involved they would have been able to stick it out. A belief that
Pandora would ultimately raise money also gave the employees hope—it was the
light at the end of the tunnel.
4. What lesson or lessons can other entrepreneurial start-ups learn from
Pandora’s story?
There are three primary lessons to be learned. First, tenacity pays. If Westergren
had given up after 299 rejections, Pandora may not exist today. Second, a belief
that things will work out is a powerful belief. Pandora’s employees could see the
merits of the service, and the quality of the work they were doing, so it wasn’t a
stretch for them to believe that others would eventually see the positive attributes
too. Finally, developing cohension amongst a group is key. Ultimately,
Pandora’s employees stuck it out because they were doing it for one another.
Partnering for Success
Start-Up Incubators and Accelerators: A New Way of Gaining Access to
Mentors, Partners, Investors, and Other Critical Start-Up Resources
1. If you were starting a new venture, do you think you would benefit from
participating in a business incubator or accelerator program? If so, what do
you think the primary benefits would be?
Most students will say they would benefit from participating in a business
incubator or accelerator program. The obvious benefits are gaining access to
mentors and advisors. Start-up incubators and accelerators are also fertile places
for entrepreneurs to meet potential co-founders, business partners, and equity
investors.
2. Find an example of a start-up incubator or accelerator at the college or
university you are attending or in the town you live in or a nearby city.
Describe the program. Which one of the Austin, Texas, programs do it most
resemble?
Many university entrepreneurship programs support a start-up incubator or
accelerator, as do many towns and cities. The incubators and accelerators will
vary in terms of the programs and terms they offer, but the benefits are similar
across locations.
3. If a student has a promising business idea, what can s/he do while in college
to improve his or her chances of being accepted into a well-regarded
incubator or accelerator program?
Most students will say that involvement in the following college activities will
boost their chances of being accepted into an incubator:
Coursework in entrepreneurship.
Participation in entrepreneurship-related activities, such as business plan
competitions, and winning awards in those activities.
Participating in a college or university-sponsored incubator.
Networking (to the extent that the student could ask several high-profile
entrepreneurs or investors to write letters of support).
Make good headway on a business idea, so the student is partway down
the runway prior to apply for admittance to the incubator.
4. Make a list of the types of business partnerships that participants in a
business incubator or accelerator program are likely to fashion.
There are a few partnership opportunities that are likely to emerge from
participating in an accelerator program. They include:
Identifying a potential co-founder for a business.
Identifying potential channel partners.
Identifying potential investors.
Identify potential advisory board members and other mentors and
advisors.
PARTNERING FOR SUCCESS
Partnering with College Students via Campus Ambassador
and Campus Rep Programs:
1. As part of your college experience, do you think you would benefit from participating in a campus
ambassador or campus rep program? Why or why not?
Being a Student/ campus Ambassador is a deeply rewarding opportunity both on a personal level and also in terms
of your career prospects after leaving campus.
Develop your skills.
As a Student Ambassador you can get involved with many different types of work allowing you to develop skills
you already have as well as gain new ones.
Influence
As a Student Ambassador You will be highly influential in decisions that have a big impact on the University
including a student's decision to study with us.
Participation
Alongside our Visiting Days, the Ambassador scheme offers a fantastic opportunity to get involved with the
University's many widening participation and outreach programmes.
2. In what ways would participating in a campus ambassador or campus rep program help you prepare
to own your own business someday?
As a Student Ambassador you can get involved with many different types of work allowing you to develop skills
you already have as well as gain new ones. These skills will help you to innovate new products and think about
new ideas and then turning those ideas into a viable business.
3. Why do you think companies such as Apple, Flex Watches, and Her Campus Media sponsor campus
ambassador or campus rep programs? How do the companies benefit?
These companies run Campus rep programs because such programs help companies that sell a product or run a
brand ere between an internship and a job. The programs vary. Some recruit students to promote their brand on campus through an
assortment of events, programs, and social media. Others ask students to create content, such as YouTube videos, articles for a
company’s main website, and Instagram photos of the company’s products being used on their campus.
4. What types of start-ups would benefit the most from starting campus ambassador programs?
It is likely that such programs help companies that sell a product or run a brand ere between an internship and a job.
The programs vary. Some recruit students to promote their brand on campus through an assortment
of events, programs, and social media. Others ask students to create content, such as YouTube videos, articles for a company’s main
website, and Instagram photos of the company’s products being used on their campus.
Questions:
After rereading the opening case, identify all of the effective and smart moves made by
Fraser Doherty in the early days off SuperJam.
Fraser Doherty is the founder of SuperJam, a company that uses traditional recipes to create a range of 100%
pure fruit jams, which are sweetened with grape juice and made using superfruits such as blueberries and
cranberries. The company has won a number of awards, supplies major UK supermarkets and is now included
in a museum exhibit as an example of an ‘Iconic Scottish Food Brand.' Fraser Doherty convinced a design
agency to work with him to create the brand quite cheaply. He was trying to convince bid companies, and he
really succeeded in finding factories to make his products. He didn’t know how the supermarket works so he
went to consult someone he knew. He has been amazed by the amount of support available to young people
trying to get their business off the ground.
Assume that you are the dean of a business school and that you are interested in more
entrepreneurship courses being offered in your school. Surprisingly to you, some professors are
resisting the idea of offering these courses on the basis of their view that entrepreneurship is a
skill that can be learned only through experience. Using materials in this chapter, make an
argument that entrepreneurship can be taught.
First, there are many examples of entrepreneurs that launched successful firms without prior entrepreneurial or
business experience. Zach Schau and his founding team at Pure Fix Cycles is an example. So it’s not fair to argue
that entrepreneurship can be learned only through experience. Second, the four-step entrepreneurial process,
introduced in the chapter, depicts the sequential nature of starting a new business. Anyone who “learns” this
process and studies each step in the process is better equipped to start a business than someone who is not familiar
with the process. As a result, entrepreneurship clearly can be “taught”.
One question that is often asked by people thinking about launching an entrepreneurial venture is
“what should first-time entrepreneurs know before they launch?” Based on information featured
in Chapter 1, what should entrepreneurs know before they commit to launching their firm?
Answer: Students will vary in terms of their answer to this question. A lot of things have to go right for a business
start to be successful. Each step in the entrepreneurial process must be accomplished with a degree of proficiency.
As a result, first-time entrepreneurs should acquaint themselves with each step in the process prior to launching a
business. The front-end of the entrepreneurial process is particularly important. Special care should be devoted to
completing the steps involved with “Developing Successful Business Ideas” in a deliberate and thoughtful manner.
Case 1.2
PatientsLikeMe: Allowing People with Serious Diseases to Connect with One
Another and Exchange Support and Advice
1-36. Of the reasons articulated in Chapter 1 that motivate people to start
businesses, which of the three reasons was the primary motivation behind
Jamie and Ben Heywood’s decision to launch PatientsLikeMe?
Answer: A desire to pursue their own ideas. Also, a desire to make a positive
difference in people’s lives.
1-37. How do those who are leading PatientsLikeMe practice “execution
intelligence”?
Answer: PatientsLikeMe seems to be almost singularly focused on execution
intelligence. In looking at the site and how people with serious diseases are able
to interact with one another, one gets the impression that a tremendous amount of
thought and empathy for people with serious diseases was put into the way the
Web site and user experience has been set up. Another sign of execution
intelligence is the way PatientsLikeMe makes money. Rather than charging users
for its service, it generates revenue by selling aggregated data that it collects from
its online patients’ communities to medical companies. This lowers a barrier to
participation (not having to pay a fee to use the service), which in the end makes
its communities larger and richer. It also makes money by helping pharmaceutical
companies enlist participants in drug trials and studies. This initiative is a win-
win-win proposition. It’s a win for pharmaceutical companies via an efficient
method for signing up participants for trials. It’s a win for patients with serious
diseases, who are often eager to sign up for any initiative that might improve their
condition or reverse their disease. And it’s a win for PatientsLikeMe in that it
generates revenue.
1-38. What type of start-up firm is PatientsLikeMe?
Answer: PatientsLikeMe is an entrepreneurial firm.
