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Richard Alpert, senior partner at Evergreen Investments, must decide which of his two best employees to promote to the position of managing VP. He had initially preferred Charlie Pace over Daniel Faraday, but that decision had become less clear-cut when Alpert inadvertently overheard an office conversation and learned that Pace was taking Adderall, a stimulant primarily prescribed for people suffering from attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Pace did not have ADHD and apparently obtained the medication by deceiving a physician. Alpert is faced with a number of questions, including whether it was fair to Faraday—or any other high-performing employee—to be passed over for promotion in favor of someone who illicitly boosted his performance with a substance he did not medically need.

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The case focuses on Thivra Info Solutions Pvt Ltd, an entrepreneurial organization incubated by Prasannan (she/her) in 2017. The organization started with a mission to provide technology-based learning solutions for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Thivra Info Solutions Pvt Ltd had developed multiple offerings, including gamified learning, targeted to ASD and general ed-tech users. The firm also launched “Dwani,” the communicative-based learning app for ASD children. The initial feedback by users, parents and teachers had been encouraging. Prasannan was exploring avenues to scale the business when the Covid-19 pandemic affected all the operations.The case presents the multiple dilemmas entrepreneurial firms face in managing resources, finances, growth and product and customer focus. Students are encouraged to debate the organization strategy, product and consumer target segments and solutions to scale the business while managing frugal resources.

This case study can be used in entrepreneurship, leadership, crisis management, business development, organizational behavior and technology.

The case study describes the navigation of Thivra from a Generic Gamified App to its niche of catering for ASD students. The case presents the challenges presented to leadership to manage the crisis and try to grow their entrepreneurial venture. This case has been designed for use in business-to-consumer marketing or entrepreneurship, gender entrepreneurship, ed-tech-based startups, in MBA, executive MBA or executive education programs in the field. The case is suitable for those doing business in Asia, for post-graduate and under-graduate students studying business innovation, entrepreneurship, strategy and marketing. It is also appropriate for courses on gender entrepreneurship; women and crisis management; and product management. The case aims at facilitating classroom discussion on the extension of Indian-based ed-tech startups to ASD children.

Students will also be able to explore the following issues: to study the role played by a business model that withstands the competition over a long period and adopting sustainability; to describe the concept and implications of paradoxical leadership, thereby drawing its impact on business decisions; to analyze how a leader acts in terms of crisis from a startup point of view; to draw the phases and constraints of the enterprise development and compare and contrast it based on gender; to demonstrate the value to different constituents (ASD students, parents, teachers and ASD counselors) by understanding their differentiated needs and developing powerful value propositions for each. Articulating and demonstrating this value is key to gaining the buy-in of the various decision-making units; to understand how, having gained traction in one market segment (in this case, tractions with parents of ASD children), a company can develop new market segments; to study the issues and problems faced by startups in developing economies, especially the tech-based ones; and to understand the application of gamification on education and communication for ASD children.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship