Search results

The novelty of this case is the multidisciplinary focus where the aspects of entrepreneurship, marketing strategy and finance are mixed together. Students are expected to apply their knowledge of Business Model Canvas and Marketing 4.0, as well as learn about the new type of entrepreneurial finance such as crowdfunding. The setting of this case is novel too – the new quest games industry in Russia. Finally, the novelty of this case is its format where the protagonists’ interview is available as a podcast, and thus, the students will need to review only the tables and the appendices.

This decision case was field researched by the authors who interviewed the founders of this start-up and the business incubator (BI) director. No information was disguised in any way. Also, the secondary research on the main trends in the development of the international and Russian quest markets was completed by the authors in the preparation of this case.

Paranoiabox.ru case presents an entrepreneurial and strategic marketing decision situation. In May 2019, in Moscow, Russia, two young residents of the MGIMO University BI, Anastasia and Max, founded the start-up business called Paranoiabox.ru. This project was a quest in a new format with home delivery: a mixture of escape, detective and board game. The player received by post a box containing various objects. Interacting with them, he/she unraveled the plot thread, found clues and gradually approached the final clue. The game with complex copyright puzzles had a built-in hint system and provided mechanisms for interaction online. By July 2019, 30 boxes for their first quest were sold. The subscribers were waiting for a new quest. Despite the first sales, Anastasia and Max had no budget for hiring freelancers or outsourcing. They were faced with an urgent and challenging dilemma: whether to concentrate on the current product sales and spend all the budget on promotion or, alternatively, to launch a series of new quests and focus on the target market with high brand awareness. There was an additional funding dilemma: should they apply for crowdfunding?

This case is a multidisciplinary case with the aspects of entrepreneurship, marketing strategy and finance. This case is intended primarily for a course in entrepreneurship at the undergraduate or graduate level. This case is also ideal to be used as a capstone project in a degree programme for entrepreneurs.

Nina, a 30-year old Asian Indian female, joined Morris University in the fall 2006 semester after completing her doctorate. She was an instructor and course designer at this historical black institution in a rural town in the southern part of the US. Ninety percent of the students and staff of Morris University (MU) were African-American. MU was committed to the objective of educating African-American youth and the concept of “students first” was one of its core institutional values. Nina's experience teaching an organizational learning course was very unpleasant. Her student evaluations were poor with harsh comments about her and the course. Nina was asked by the department head to prepare a teaching improvement plan for herself.