1366 Technologies: Scaling the Venture (Abridged)

Posted: 8 May 2012

See all articles by Joseph B. Lassiter

Joseph B. Lassiter

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Ramana Nanda

Imperial College Business School; Harvard University - Entrepreneurial Management Unit

Evan Richardson

Harvard University - Business School (HBS)

Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Harvard University - Business School (HBS)

Date Written: March 5, 2012

Abstract

For some time, 1366's co-founders, Frank van Mierlo and Ely Sachs, had faced a choice, which was now made all the more stark: 1366 could expand to produce silicon wafers itself, raising the required capital from "friendly" investors and building shipment volume slowly, or 1366 could accelerate its market entry dramatically by partnering with the Asian manufacturers that had begun to dominate the world-wide solar industry. While accelerated growth was attractive to 1366 and its current investors, the company believed that it would face considerable risks if it were to expose its intellectual property to the "wrong" partners. 1366 had no intention of losing control of its technology, but given the pace of innovation and the active role of governments in the solar industry, van Mierlo and Sachs feared this might not be a race that could be won by the cautious.

Learning Objective: Study issues faced in scaling from laboratory- to commercial-scale operations in clean tech.

Suggested Citation

Lassiter, Joseph B. and Nanda, Ramana and Richardson, Evan and Wagonfeld, Alison Berkley, 1366 Technologies: Scaling the Venture (Abridged) (March 5, 2012). Harvard Business School Entrepreneurial Management Case No. 812-133, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2053147

Joseph B. Lassiter (Contact Author)

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

Ramana Nanda

Imperial College Business School ( email )

South Kensington Campus
Exhibition Road
London SW7 2AZ, SW7 2AZ
United Kingdom

Harvard University - Entrepreneurial Management Unit ( email )

Boston, MA 02163
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.people.hbs.edu/rnanda

Evan Richardson

Harvard University - Business School (HBS) ( email )

Soldiers Field Road
Morgan 270C
Boston, MA 02163
United States

Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Harvard University - Business School (HBS) ( email )

Soldiers Field Road
Morgan 270C
Boston, MA 02163
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
1,196
PlumX Metrics