EE204: Business Management for
Electrical Engineers and Computer Scientists

Recognizing and shaping opportunities

Read

1. Entrepreneurship Reading: Recognizing and Shaping Opportunities (HBS course materials)
   1. Pages1-17 are required reading for this class. The supplemental readings are optional.
2. Blue River Technology A (HBS course materials)

Case Summary

Blue River Technology begins with background on company co-founder Jorge Heraud and the founding story of the enterprise. Blue River was created by Heraud and co-founder Lee Redden, who were both graduate students at Stanford University when they began exploring commercial opportunities for autonomous vehicles employing computer vision technology. The co-founders decided to focus on agricultural applications, with lettuce thinning as an initial target service and larger global row crops as an aspirational goal. The case challenges students to first think through the possible business models that Blue River (BR) could use to serve its target marketplace(s). Then the case walks students through BR's early discussions with Khosla Ventures (KV), a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. KV has a divergent view on how BR should grow and tackle marketplace opportunities, and at the end of the case, Heraud and Redden face a series of decisions as to how they should engage KV and make optimal financing decisions for the business.

Discussion Questions

1. What was the source of Heraud's inspiration?
2. What process have Heraud and Redden gone through to develop their product?
3. How does the size of the potential market impact the founders' growth plan?
4. A key conern for Heraud and Redden is how to sell their product. What are the factors they should consider in making their decision?
5. Do Heraud and Redden have the same vision foor their company as Khosla Ventures? Should they accept KV's proposal?