Cold Call
Episodes
Climate Rising: Extending Apparel Lifespan with ThredUp
23 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this special holiday crossover episode from Harvard Business School’s Climate Rising podcast, Professor Mike Toffel talks with ThredUp CEO James ...
Inside Coinbase’s Mission-First, Remote-First Bet
09 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase made two bold organizational moves: going fully remote and banning political discussion at work. These decis...
BrandBastion Mixes AI and Human Judgment to Build Trust at Scale
25 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jenny Wolfram founded BrandBastion to help companies manage the risks of social media by combining AI with human moderation. She joins HBS professor J...
Apollo Global Management’s Business Model Transformation
11 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Apollo Global Management has transformed itself from a traditional private equity giant into an insurance-fueled credit powerhouse—thanks to its acq...
Inside India’s Energy Transition: Tata Power’s Net Zero Strategy
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Tim Ferriss at a Career Crossroads: How Should He Shape His Next Chapter?
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In April 2024, writer, podcaster, and entrepreneur Tim Ferriss—known for his hugely popular podcast “The Tim Ferriss Show” and NYT-bestselling b...
How Dollar Tree Plans to Thrive Despite Breaking the Buck
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For 35 years, Dollar Tree, a discount retail chain selling general merchandise, had held its fixed price point steady, charging $1.00 for its ever-cha...
How Lyft’s CEO Got the Company Moving Again
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 a...
Partnerships Power Highland Electric’s Expanding Fleet of School Buses
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 work...
Atlassian Anchors Remote Flexibility in Structured Daily Practices
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Atlassian promised employees they could work from anywhere, permanently. By 2024, its data-driven routines and workplace experiments were shaping both...
Disrupting the Freezer Aisle: Dr. Bombay Ice Cream
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Shake Shack’s Digital Playbook: More Tech, Same Hospitality?
22 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Shake Shack began in 2001 as a single hot dog cart in New York City and grew into a global fast-casual chain known for quality ingredients and a stron...
At Booking.com, Innovation Means Constant Failure (Summer Repeat)
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
During a busy travel season, digital travel platform Booking.com tried a risky experiment that meant changing the site’s landing page. Then CEO Gill...
Ensuring Boston Ballet Stays Relevant
24 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ming Min Hui, executive director of Boston Ballet, is unique in her field. As a young, Asian American woman with a HBS MBA and a background in finance...
How Bill Wilson Cofounded Alcoholics Anonymous and Created a Lasting Social Movement
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Bill Wilson was an incredibly entrepreneurial young man with tremendous potential. He was also a drunk, until an epiphany made him sober. With his per...
How Keurig Brewed a Return to Growth
27 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Keurig Green Mountain (KGM) invented a category and became a household name in at-home coffee brewing in North America. But by the early 2010s, the pu...
Mattel’s Barbie Playbook: Replicating Success Across the Company’s Portfolio
13 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The 2023 movie Barbie and its accompanying marketing blitz reinstated a celebrated icon at the forefront of cultural conversation. This sudden goodwil...
How Duolingo Aims to Diversify Beyond Language Learning
29 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Launched in 2011, Duolingo grew into the most downloaded education app in the world. Its gamified approach to language learning and use of adaptive AI...
The Nuqul Group Works to Preserve Its Founder’s Legacy
15 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1952, Palenstinian refugee Elia Nuqul started a trading business in Jordan. Nuqul Group subsequently grew into one of the country’s largest famil...
Calyx Global: Improving the Quality of Carbon Credits
01 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2021, Donna Lee and Duncan van Bergen founded Calyx Global to improve the quality of carbon credits sold in the voluntary carbon market. Organizati...
How Lanco Medical Group Fosters Workforce Happiness to Motivate Employees and Grow Fast
18 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How important is it to maintain a happy workforce? With this question in mind, Lanco Medical Group, a small but fast-growing pharmaceutical distributo...
The Evolution of Luxury Brand Porsche
04 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Porsche has reigned as a leading sports and luxury car company for nearly 80 years. Central to the German automaker’s growth strategy is creating gr...
Should Google Stay in the Cloud Gaming Business?
18 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Google formally announced the innovative video game service Stadia at the 2019 Game Developer Conference. The company invested substantial resources t...
Celebrating 10 Years of Cold Call
04 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cold Call is celebrating its tenth year of distilling Harvard Business School case studies. To kick off the 2025 anniversary, the podcast’s producti...
Managing the Future of Work: Microsoft’s AI Perspective
21 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Artificial intelligence is changing how we live and work in ways large and small. And it's why today we’re sharing an episode of Harvard Business Sc...
The Leadership Style of Football Legend Deion Sanders
07 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2022, Deion Sanders, known as “Coach Prime,” was hired as head coach of the University of Colorado football team, which had only one winning se...
Scaling a Family Business While Maintaining Founding Values
24 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of the oldest Black-owned security firms in the U.S., Johnson Security Bureau credits much of its success to its status as a woman-owned, minority...
A New Model for Funding Healthcare Innovation
10 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Entrepreneur Duke Rohlen creates California-based Ajax Health under a new model. Partnering with private equity firms, Rohlen considers a $1 billion b...
How Entertainment Lawyer John Branca Negotiated for the Beatles Songs Catalog
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 1985, pop music superstar Michael Jackson instructed his attorney, John Branca, to bid for the Northern Songs music catalog, which contained the so...
How Pernod Ricard Is Integrating AI into Its Workforce
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With operations in 70 countries and 20,000 employees, Pernod Ricard is a leader in premium international spirits. The company had achieved its leaders...
Can a Coffee Shop in Utah Help Solve Underemployment for People with Disabilities?
29 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
What Sequoia Capital Can Teach Leaders About Sustaining Long-Term Growth
15 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 inves...
Choosing Passion: A Founder’s Mission to Meet a Need for Obesity Care
01 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Early in her career Brooke Boyarsky Pratt (MBA 2013) enjoyed considerable success in roles at McKinsey and Berkadia, a Berkshire Hathaway portfolio co...
Fawn Weaver’s Entrepreneurial Journey as an Outsider in the Spirits Industry
17 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2017 Fawn Weaver launched a premium American whiskey brand, Uncle Nearest. It became the fastest growing and most awarded whiskey brand in America,...
How the U.S. Government Is Innovating in Its Efforts to Fund Semiconductor Manufacturing
03 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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 bill...
Angel City Football Club: A New Business Model for Women’s Sports
20 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) was founded in 2020 by venture capitalist Kara Nortman, entrepreneur Julie Uhrman, and actor and activist Natalie Port...
How EdTech Firm Coursera Is Incorporating GenAI into Its Products and Services
06 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In early 2023, Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera, started developing the EdTech firm’s strategy for incorporating GenAI into their offerings. By ea...
Transforming the Workplace for People with Disabilities
23 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Nadine Vogel, Founder and CEO of Springboard Consulting, joins Harvard Business School professor Lakshmi Ramarajan and Harvard Kennedy School professo...
Should You Buy a Seasonal Business? (from Think Big, Buy Small)
16 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re sharing a special episode from Think Big, Buy Small, the new podcast from Harvard Business School. Think Big, Buy Small explores an inno...
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and Brand Building
09 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which allow individuals to own their digital assets and move them from place to place, are changing the interaction betwee...
How Natural Winemaker Frank Cornelissen Innovated While Staying True to His Brand
18 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2018, artisanal Italian vineyard Frank Cornelissen was one of the world’s leading producers of natural wine. But when weather-related conditions ...
How One Insurtech Firm Formulated a Strategy for Climate Change
04 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Insurtech firm Hippo was facing two big challenges related to climate change: major loss ratios and rate hikes. The company used technologically e...
The Importance of Trust for Managing Through a Crisis
21 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In March 2020, Twiddy & Company, a family-owned vacation rental company known for hospitality rooted in personal interactions, needed to adjust to con...
Lessons in Business Innovation from Legendary Restaurant elBulli
07 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ferran Adrià, chef at legendary Barcelona-based restaurant elBulli, was facing two related decisions. First, he and his team must continue to develop...
Amazon in Seattle: The Role of Business in Causing and Solving a Housing Crisis
23 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020, Amazon built a shelter for women and families experiencing houselessness on its campus in Seattle, Washington. The shelter was operated in pa...
Sustaining a Legacy of Giving in Turkey
09 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Özyeğin Social Investments was founded by Hüsnü Özyeğin, one of Turkey's most successful entrepreneurs, with a focus on education, health, gende...
How One Leader Overcame Career-Ending Adversity
26 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the spring of 2021, Raymond Jefferson (MBA 2000) applied for a job in President Joseph Biden’s administration. Ten years earlier, false allegatio...
How to Bring Good Ideas to Life: The Paul English Story
12 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei and Paul English, one of the most imaginative and successful innovators of his generation, discuss how ...
How Could Harvard Decarbonize Its Supply Chain?
27 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Harvard University aims to be fossil-fuel neutral by 2026 and totally free of fossil fuels by 2050. As part of this goal, the university is trying to...
Apple’s Dilemma: Balancing Privacy and Safety Responsibilities
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2015, Apple debuted the iPhone 6S, which employed a default encryption system preventing both Apple and government authorities from accessing data ...
Can Second-Generation Ethanol Production Help Decarbonize the World?
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ethanol had already transformed Brazil, where flex-fuel vehicles dominated the streets. Raízen, a bioenergy company headquartered in São Paulo, soug...
How SolarWinds Responded to the 2020 SUNBURST Cyberattack
16 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In December of 2020, SolarWinds learned that they had fallen victim to a widespread malware supply chain attack. This attack granted hackers access to...
Should Businesses Take a Stand on Societal Issues?
02 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Should businesses take a stand for or against particular societal issues? And how should leaders determine when and how to engage on these sensitive m...
Can Sustainability Drive Innovation at Ferrari?
12 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When Ferrari, the Italian luxury sports car manufacturer, committed to achieving carbon neutrality and to electrifying a large part of its car fleet, ...
What Founders Get Wrong about Sales and Marketing
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Which sales candidate is a startup’s ideal first hire? What marketing channels are best to invest in? How aggressively should an executive team alig...
Tommy Hilfiger’s Adaptive Clothing Line: Making Fashion Inclusive
28 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 2017, Tommy Hilfiger launched its adaptive fashion line to provide fashion apparel that aims to make dressing easier. By 2020, it was still a relat...
Building a More Equitable Culture at Delta Air Lines
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In December 2020, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian and his leadership team were reviewing the decision to join the OneTen coalition, where he and 36 oth...
How Should Meta Be Governed for the Good of Society?
07 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Julie Owono is executive director of Internet Sans Frontières and a member of the Oversight Board, an outside entity with the authority to make bindi...
How the United States Air Force Accelerated AI Adoption
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In August 2022, the Pentagon tasked Victor Lopez, then a captain in the U.S. Air Force, with launching a new Air Force innovation unit that leveraged ...
Scaling Two Businesses Against the Odds: Wendy Estrella’s Founder Journey
10 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Entrepreneur Wendy Estrella is attempting to simultaneously scale her law practice, as well as her property management and development company. What s...
The PGA Tour and LIV Golf Merger: Competition Vs. Cooperation
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On June 9, 2022, the first LIV Golf event teed off outside of London. The new tour offered players larger prizes, more flexibility, and ambitions to a...
Can Remote Surgeries Digitally Transform Operating Rooms?
12 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Launched in 2016, Proximie was a platform that enabled clinicians, proctors, and medical device company personnel to be virtually present in operating...
As Social Networks Get More Competitive, Which Ones Will Survive?
29 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In early 2023, the entertainment app TikTok reached close to one billion users globally, placing it fourth behind the leading social networks: Faceboo...
Ryan Serhant: How to Manage Your Time for Happiness
15 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020, just a few months after the US began to shut down in order to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus, Serhant had time to reflect on his ca...
Can Business Transform Primary Health Care Across Africa?
01 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
mPharma, headquartered in Ghana, is trying to create the largest pan-African health care company. Their mission is to provide primary care and a relia...
Diversity and Inclusion at Mars Petcare: Translating Awareness into Action
18 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020, the Mars Petcare leadership team found themselves facing critically important inclusion and diversity issues. Unprecedented protests for raci...
How Unilever Is Preparing for the Future of Work
04 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Launched in 2016, Unilever’s Future of Work initiative aimed to accelerate the speed of change throughout the organization and prepare its workforce...
Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover: Lessons in Strategic Change
20 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In late October 2022, Elon Musk officially took Twitter private and became the company’s majority shareholder. He needed to take decisive steps to s...
The Opioid Crisis, CEO Pay, and Shareholder Activism
06 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020, AmerisourceBergen Corporation agreed to settle thousands of lawsuits filed nationwide against the company for its opioid distribution practic...
The Entrepreneurial Journey of China’s First Private Mental Health Hospital
23 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The city of Wenzhou in southeastern China is home to the country’s largest privately owned mental health hospital group, the Wenzhou Kangning Hospit...
Can Robin Williams’ Son Help Other Families Heal Addiction and Depression?
09 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Zak Pym Williams, son of comedian and actor Robin Williams, had seen how mental health challenges, such as addiction and depression, had affected past...
Sweden’s Northvolt Electric Battery Maker: A Startup with a Mission
28 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In Stockholm, Sweden an upstart battery maker, Northvolt, is trying to recreate the value chain for European car manufacturers making the switch to EV...
Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi: Transforming Lives with Access to Credit
27 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
James Mwangi, CEO of Equity Bank, has transformed lives and livelihoods throughout East and Central Africa by giving impoverished people access to ban...
How Martine Rothblatt Started a Company to Save Her Daughter
26 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When serial entrepreneur Martine Rothblatt (founder of Sirius XM) received her seven-year-old daughter’s diagnosis of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertensio...
Using Design Thinking to Invent a Low-Cost Prosthesis for Land Mine Victims
25 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) is an Indian nonprofit famous for creating low-cost prosthetics, like the Jaipur Foot and the Stanfor...
Our All-Time Favorite Episodes of Cold Call
24 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Cold Call is celebrating 200 episodes with a special five-part series during the week of April 24, 2023. Each day that week, Cold Call will release a ...
A Rose by Any Other Name: Supply Chains and Carbon Emissions in the Flower Industry
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Headquartered in Kitengela, Kenya, Sian Flowers exports roses to Europe. Because cut flowers have a limited shelf life and consumers want them to reta...
BMW’s Decarbonization Strategy: Sustainable for the Environment and the Bottom Line
28 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In mid-2022, many automakers were announcing deadlines by which they would stop selling ICE vehicles altogether, buoyed by investment analysts and fav...
Can AI and Machine Learning Help Park Rangers Prevent Poaching?
14 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) was created by a coalition of conservation organizations to take historical data and create geospati...
Muhammad Ali: A Case Study in Purpose-Driven Decision Making
28 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr, rose from a poor family in segregated Louisville, Kentucky to international fame, winning three heavywei...
Does It Pay to Be a Whistleblower?
14 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 2013, soon after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had started a massive whistleblowing program with the potential for large moneta...
Addressing Racial Discrimination on Airbnb
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For years, Airbnb gave hosts discretion to accept or reject a guest after seeing little more than a name and a picture, believing that eliminating ano...
Nestlé’s KitKat Diplomacy: Neutrality vs. Shared Value
17 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, and multinational companies began pulling out of Russia, in response. At Switzerland-based Nestlé, chief ex...
Wordle: Can a Pandemic Phenomenon Sustain in the Long Term?
03 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Wordle went from a personal game, created by a developer for his girlfriend, to a global phenomenon with two million users in just a few months. Then ...
Metaverse Seoul: How One City Used Citizen Input to Pilot a Government-Run Metaverse
13 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In May 2022, the Seoul Metropolitan Government in Seoul, South Korea, launched the pilot of Metaverse Seoul, a virtual version of Seoul’s mayor’s ...
How Will Gamers and Investors Respond to Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard?
29 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In January 2022, Microsoft announced its acquisition of the video game company Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. The deal would make Microsoft th...
Planning the Future for Harlem’s Beloved Sylvia’s Restaurant
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sylvia’s Restaurant, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in August 2022, is a testament to the values instilled by the founder and matriarch, Sylv...
Marie Curie: A Case Study in Breaking Barriers
01 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Marie Curie, born Maria Sklodowska from a poor family in Poland, rose to the pinnacle of scientific fame in the early years of the twentieth century, ...
Chewy.com’s Make-or-Break Logistics Dilemma
18 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In late 2013, Ryan Cohen, cofounder and then-CEO of online pet products retailer Chewy.com, was facing a decision that could determine his company’s...
Corporate Governance and Growth Strategy at Capital SAFI
04 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Asset management firm Capital SAFI wanted to attract new strategic investors and expand to other countries beyond Bolivia. Founder, chairman and CEO J...
Larry Fink at BlackRock: Linking Purpose to Profit
20 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 2014, Larry Fink started writing letters to the leaders of some of the largest publicly listed companies, urging them to consider the importance of...
Reinventing an Iconic Independent Bookstore
06 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020, Kwame Spearman made the career-shifting decision to leave a New York City-based consulting job to return to his hometown of Denver, Colorado,...
Management Lessons from the Sinking of the SS El Faro
23 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Captain Michael Davidson, of the container ship SS El Faro, was determined to make his planned shipping trip on time—but a hurricane was approaching...
A Lesson from Google: Can AI Bias be Monitored Internally?
09 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Timnit Gebru was the co-lead of Google’s Ethical AI research team –until she raised concerns about bias in the company’s large language mode...
Can Bombas Reach New Customers while Maintaining Its Social Mission?
26 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Bombas was started in 2013 with a dual mission: to deliver quality socks and donate much-needed footwear to people living in shelters. By 2021, it had...
Can the Foodservice Distribution Industry Recover from the Pandemic?
12 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
At the height of the pandemic in 2020, US Foods struggled, as restaurant and school closures reduced demand for foodservice distribution. The situatio...
Scaling a Fintech Startup for the Greater Good
28 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Esusu launched in 2018 with a rotational savings product and continued growing their fintech startup in late 2019 with Esusu Rent, a rent reporting to...
What Does It Take to Close the Opportunity Gap in America’s Labor Market?
14 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the wake of George Floyd’s killing and widespread protests for social justice in the United States, OneTen was formed by a coalition of 40 large ...
Corruption: New Insights for Fighting an Age-Old Business Problem
31 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Corruption is as old as humanity, with cases documented as far back as the Egyptian dynasties. While the World Bank estimates that international bribe...
Delivering a Personalized Shopping Experience with AI
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
THE YES, a shopping app for fashion brands, uses a sophisticated algorithm to create and deliver a personalized store for every shopper, based on her ...