INKPOTHUB: SHOULD THE DIGITAL MEDIA START-UP CONTINUE?
CASE STUDY SOLUTION
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SYNOPSIS
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Founded in Hyderabad, India in 2019, Inkpothub is India’s first digital media platform to offer researchers,
scholars, and academics a forum for sharing success and experience stories. The platform allows users to
share their journeys to promote research as a career, help researchers make informed career choices, and
n
avoid common pitfalls. Inkpothub also creates, curates, and shares content, information, and knowledge to
promote management scholarship and research. The platform connects users with scholars in major Indian
tio
academic institutions through content, mentorship programs, courses, and workshops. Inkpothub facilitates
high-quality research output and works closely with institutions across the country to promote their doctoral
programs to prospective students.
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Inkpothub’s co-founder and current sole owner is Anita Sharma, India’s first woman skydiver with a
So
disability, who is also an entrepreneur with a doctorate from Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore.
Sharma has worked as professor at IIM, Amritsar and has been a keynote speaker, among other roles she
has held. In April 2020, Inkpothub’s co-founder Nishan Singh left the company for personal reasons,
leaving Sharma to lead the company alone and face the impact from the outbreak of the COVID-19
pandemic in March 2020. With a difficult business environment for all businesses across all countries,
Sharma was considering three potential options for the future: sell the business to regain her investment in
the company, find a new partner to grow the business and share the risks and revenues, or continue to run
the business on her own.
OBJECTIVES
• Understand sociological theories of entrepreneurship related to the early years of a start-up’s journey.
• Appreciate the decision-making dilemmas that founders face in a dynamic business environment.
• Understand the cognitive perspective behind an entrepreneur’s decisions.
The Case Solution Starts From page 5
,• Understand and apply the analytical framework of strategic decision-making.
• Understand the impact of the escalation phenomenon and escalation of commitment on the decisions
that an entrepreneur makes when faced with a dilemma.
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ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
1. What is Inkpothub’s business model and what are its offerings?
2. Consider possible frameworks or theoretical underpinnings to determine which of the three options
presented in the case Sharma should choose.
The Case Solution Starts From page 5
,2. Consider possible frameworks or theoretical underpinnings to determine which of the three
options presented in the case Sharma should choose.
After the departure of her business partner, and with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic threatening to
disrupt all businesses, Sharma faced a key decision point in her entrepreneurship career: should she continue
to lead her business alone, look for a new business partner, or exit the business altogether?
In their groups, students
should begin by evaluating the underlying reasons for Sharma’s dilemma and then identify the frameworks
or theoretical underpinnings related to Sharma’s decision.
Underlying Reasons for Sharma’s Dilemma
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The underlying reasons for Sharma’s dilemma can be primarily considered from a relational aspect of the
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The Case Solution Starts From page 5
, EXHIBIT -2: FAMILY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP PARALLELS
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Families Entrepreneurship
Basic vocabulary
pl
Parent Entrepreneur
Baby New venture or combination of resources
m
Pre-emergence stages
Conception Commitment to the venture
Sa
Gestation Resource acquisition and integration; start-up activities
Birth Emergence, start-up
Post-emergence stages
Infancy and toddlerhood Early life of the venture when dependence on the entrepreneur
n
is extreme
Childhood
tio
Adolescence
lu
So
The Case Solution Starts From page 5
CASE STUDY SOLUTION
e
pl
SYNOPSIS
m
Sa
Founded in Hyderabad, India in 2019, Inkpothub is India’s first digital media platform to offer researchers,
scholars, and academics a forum for sharing success and experience stories. The platform allows users to
share their journeys to promote research as a career, help researchers make informed career choices, and
n
avoid common pitfalls. Inkpothub also creates, curates, and shares content, information, and knowledge to
promote management scholarship and research. The platform connects users with scholars in major Indian
tio
academic institutions through content, mentorship programs, courses, and workshops. Inkpothub facilitates
high-quality research output and works closely with institutions across the country to promote their doctoral
programs to prospective students.
lu
Inkpothub’s co-founder and current sole owner is Anita Sharma, India’s first woman skydiver with a
So
disability, who is also an entrepreneur with a doctorate from Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore.
Sharma has worked as professor at IIM, Amritsar and has been a keynote speaker, among other roles she
has held. In April 2020, Inkpothub’s co-founder Nishan Singh left the company for personal reasons,
leaving Sharma to lead the company alone and face the impact from the outbreak of the COVID-19
pandemic in March 2020. With a difficult business environment for all businesses across all countries,
Sharma was considering three potential options for the future: sell the business to regain her investment in
the company, find a new partner to grow the business and share the risks and revenues, or continue to run
the business on her own.
OBJECTIVES
• Understand sociological theories of entrepreneurship related to the early years of a start-up’s journey.
• Appreciate the decision-making dilemmas that founders face in a dynamic business environment.
• Understand the cognitive perspective behind an entrepreneur’s decisions.
The Case Solution Starts From page 5
,• Understand and apply the analytical framework of strategic decision-making.
• Understand the impact of the escalation phenomenon and escalation of commitment on the decisions
that an entrepreneur makes when faced with a dilemma.
e
pl
m
Sa
n
tio
lu
So
ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
1. What is Inkpothub’s business model and what are its offerings?
2. Consider possible frameworks or theoretical underpinnings to determine which of the three options
presented in the case Sharma should choose.
The Case Solution Starts From page 5
,2. Consider possible frameworks or theoretical underpinnings to determine which of the three
options presented in the case Sharma should choose.
After the departure of her business partner, and with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic threatening to
disrupt all businesses, Sharma faced a key decision point in her entrepreneurship career: should she continue
to lead her business alone, look for a new business partner, or exit the business altogether?
In their groups, students
should begin by evaluating the underlying reasons for Sharma’s dilemma and then identify the frameworks
or theoretical underpinnings related to Sharma’s decision.
Underlying Reasons for Sharma’s Dilemma
e
The underlying reasons for Sharma’s dilemma can be primarily considered from a relational aspect of the
pl
m
Sa
n
tio
lu
So
The Case Solution Starts From page 5
, EXHIBIT -2: FAMILY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP PARALLELS
e
Families Entrepreneurship
Basic vocabulary
pl
Parent Entrepreneur
Baby New venture or combination of resources
m
Pre-emergence stages
Conception Commitment to the venture
Sa
Gestation Resource acquisition and integration; start-up activities
Birth Emergence, start-up
Post-emergence stages
Infancy and toddlerhood Early life of the venture when dependence on the entrepreneur
n
is extreme
Childhood
tio
Adolescence
lu
So
The Case Solution Starts From page 5
