Entrepreneur-in-Action · Free case studies
Entrepreneurship case studies: 24 real ventures, from Dropbox to Grameen Bank
Every lesson in Entrepreneurship Essentials includes an Entrepreneur-in-Action case: a short, sourced account of a real company, nonprofit, or founder, written to show one entrepreneurial concept at work. They range from the Post-it Note and Southwest Airlines to Grameen Bank, Toyota, and Kickstarter.
Each case below opens in its lesson, at the exact spot, so you can read it in context with the ideas it illustrates. Students can use them for assignments and discussion; instructors can assign them alongside each module.
Filter by topic
Showing all cases
Module 1 · Entrepreneurial Foundation & Opportunity Awareness
The Entrepreneurial Mindset case studies: Madam C. J. Walker, 3M (Post-it Note), Aravind Eye Hospital
Madam C. J. Walker
Madam C. J. Walker: Experience, Opportunity, and a Network of Capabilities
How Sarah Breedlove turned her own hair-care problems, and what she learned from Annie Turnbo Malone, into products, training, and a national sales network.
- Concept:
- Founder experience as opportunity
- In:
- 1.1 Entrepreneurial Mindset & Method
3M (Post-it Note)
Spencer Silver, Art Fry, and the Post-it Note
A weak adhesive nobody asked for became the Post-it Note only after a colleague connected it to a real, everyday frustration: bookmarks falling out of a hymnbook.
- Concept:
- Matching a capability to a real need
- In:
- 1.2 Opportunity Identification & Environmental Scanning
Aravind Eye Hospital
Dr. G. Venkataswamy and the Problem Behind the Organization
An eleven-bed eye hospital founded in 1976 grew into a system for preventing avoidable blindness, because its founder focused on access and scale, not just on opening another hospital.
- Concept:
- Seeing the problem behind the idea
- In:
- 1.3 From Observation to Opportunity Judgment
Watch the Module 1 expert interview on the entrepreneurial mindset →
Module 2 · Customer Discovery & Problem Validation
Customer Discovery case studies: Intuit, Bank of America and IDEO, Rent the Runway
Intuit
Intuit: Learning by Seeing the Work People Actually Do
Intuit's Follow-Me-Home practice: watching customers do real tasks in real settings reveals the steps and workarounds people forget to mention in interviews.
- Concept:
- Observational customer research
- In:
- 2.1 Customer Discovery Methodology
Bank of America and IDEO
Bank of America and IDEO: Understanding a Savings Behavior
The Keep the Change savings service was shaped around how people already handle money, rounding up debit purchases into savings, instead of what they should do.
- Concept:
- Designing around existing behavior
- In:
- 2.2 Problem Validation & Customer Understanding
Rent the Runway
Rent the Runway: A Real Test Came Before a National Launch
Before launching nationally, the founders ran a campus pop-up where students could try on and rent real dresses, turning "would you?" into an actual choice.
- Concept:
- Testing before launch
- In:
- 2.3 Evaluating Problem Evidence
Module 3 · Business Model Design & Strategic Thinking
Business Model Design case studies: Habitat for Humanity ReStore, Southwest Airlines, Patagonia Worn Wear
Habitat for Humanity ReStore
Habitat for Humanity ReStore: More Than a Store
A discount store that is really a system: donors supply inventory, volunteers sort it, shoppers buy it, and the proceeds fund Habitat's housing mission.
- Concept:
- Multi-sided nonprofit business model
- In:
- 3.1 Business Modeling & Strategic Thinking
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines: Low Fares Required a Different System
Low fares were the promise, but fast aircraft turnarounds and coordinated operations were what made them possible, which is why copying a price alone fails.
- Concept:
- Value proposition and operating model
- In:
- 3.2 Business Model Development & Market Understanding
Patagonia Worn Wear
Patagonia Worn Wear: Changing the Life of a Product
A trade-in program extends the customer relationship past the sale, raising new questions about value, costs, and how used products flow back through a business.
- Concept:
- Circular business model
- In:
- 3.3 Assessing Business Model Coherence
Watch the Module 3 expert interview on business model design →
Module 4 · Design Thinking & Solution Development
Design Thinking case studies: OXO Good Grips, Embrace, Berkeley's curb ramps
OXO Good Grips
OXO Good Grips: When the Handle Was the Problem
Sam Farber saw that the problem wasn't his wife's arthritis but the peeler's handle, and the redesign made kitchen tools easier for almost everyone.
- Concept:
- Inclusive design
- In:
- 4.1 Design Thinking & Creative Problem-Solving
Embrace
Embrace: Designing for the Conditions People Actually Face
A Stanford student team rethought the incubator as a portable, reusable infant warmer for places where conventional incubators are hard to obtain or use.
- Concept:
- Designing for real-world conditions
- In:
- 4.2 Solution Design & Prototyping
Berkeley's curb ramps
Berkeley's Curb Ramps: Redesigning the Environment Instead of the Person
Disability rights advocates in Berkeley fought to change the curb, not the person; ramps built for access now also help anyone with a stroller, luggage, or a cart.
- Concept:
- Fix the environment, not the person
- In:
- 4.3 Evaluating Solution Concepts
Module 5 · Experimentation & Validation
Startup Experiments case studies: Dropbox, Booking.com, Microsoft Bing
Dropbox
Dropbox: An Early Demonstration Is Not a Finished Business
An early demo video built a long waiting list, which was real evidence of interest among early adopters, but not yet proof of a finished business.
- Concept:
- Demo video as a minimum viable test
- In:
- 5.1 Experimentation & the Scientific Method
Booking.com
Booking.com: A Culture That Allows Ideas to Be Wrong
The lesson from Booking.com's large-scale online testing isn't the volume; it's a culture where leaders let evidence overrule their own assumptions.
- Concept:
- Experimentation culture
- In:
- 5.2 Designing and Interpreting Experiments
Microsoft Bing
Microsoft's Bing: The Small Change Experts Nearly Missed
A low-priority idea to change how Bing displayed ad headlines sat for months; once an engineer finally tested it, the result was large enough to be checked for errors.
- Concept:
- A/B testing overlooked ideas
- In:
- 5.3 Learning-Based Validation Decisions
Watch the Module 5 expert interview on startup experiments →
Module 6 · Financial Modeling & Viability
Startup Cash Flow case studies: McDonald's, Federal Express, Grameen Bank
McDonald's
The McDonald brothers redesign the economics of a meal
In 1948 the McDonald brothers cut their menu and introduced the Speedee Service System, changing the economics of every meal before franchising took it national.
- Concept:
- Process redesign and unit economics
- In:
- 6.1 Financial Acumen & Viability Analysis
Federal Express
Federal Express and the cost of a promise
FedEx's first night in 1973, 14 aircraft carrying 186 packages, shows how some promises need a whole network paid for before the first customer arrives.
- Concept:
- Fixed costs before the first sale
- In:
- 6.2 Financial Modeling & Forecasting
Grameen Bank
Grameen Bank and a different financing assumption
Muhammad Yunus questioned who could access credit, and a 1976 research project became a bank and a Nobel Peace Prize-winning model of small loans.
- Concept:
- Microfinance and challenging assumptions
- In:
- 6.3 Funding, Financial Risk & Sustainability
Module 7 · Iteration & Strategic Decision-Making
Pivoting and Adaptive Decisions case studies: Netflix, Toyota, Ben & Jerry's
Netflix
Netflix and a change in delivery logic
Netflix added streaming in 2007 alongside DVD-by-mail and kept both for years, changing how it delivered entertainment without abandoning why customers came.
- Concept:
- Pivoting the method, keeping the purpose
- In:
- 7.1 Iteration & Adaptive Decision-Making
Toyota
Toyota and the value of stopping
The Toyota Production System stops work when something is wrong, because a defect that travels downstream costs far more than a deliberate pause.
- Concept:
- Jidoka: stopping to fix problems
- In:
- 7.2 Resources, Operations & Organizational Capacity
Ben & Jerry's
Ben & Jerry's and linked prosperity
Ben & Jerry's tied product, economic, and social goals together, including a 1985 foundation funded from pretax profits, turning a stated purpose into real arrangements.
- Concept:
- Mission-driven business model
- In:
- 7.3 Responsible Readiness, Ethics & Growth
Watch the Module 7 expert interview on pivoting and adaptive decisions →
Module 8 · Pitching & Entrepreneurial Storytelling
Pitching and Storytelling case studies: Kiva, Patagonia, Kickstarter
Kiva
Kiva and the person behind the financial term
Kiva pairs loan terms with the borrower's story, showing how a person makes a financial pitch understandable without hiding the risk.
- Concept:
- Storytelling with financial facts
- In:
- 8.1 Storytelling & Persuasive Communication
Patagonia
Patagonia and the uncomfortable brand promise
"Don't Buy This Jacket," Patagonia's 2011 Black Friday ad, and why a bold brand message is only credible when the company's actions back it up.
- Concept:
- Brand promise and authenticity
- In:
- 8.2 Branding, Marketing & Customer Communication
Kickstarter
Kickstarter and the story that includes risk
Kickstarter tells creators to explain their project's purpose, stage, and risks, because a pitch that hides challenges trades short-term excitement for long-term trust.
- Concept:
- Crowdfunding pitch and honest risk
- In:
- 8.3 Evidence-Based Pitches & the Entrepreneurial Journey Beyond the Classroom
Watch the Module 8 expert interview on pitching and storytelling →
Teaching with these case studies
All 24 cases are part of the free, CC BY 4.0 open textbook, so you can assign, adapt, and share them. Lesson plans, assignments, and rubrics for every module are in the Instructor Teaching Guide.