Platform Strategy
Case studies on platform strategy.
10x Genomics: Protect the Platform or Trade for Certainty?
On 28 February 2023, a federal court in Delaware issued a claim-construction order in a patent case brought by 10x Genomics and Prognosys Biosciences against NanoString Technologies. The order adopted plain-and-ordinary-meaning constructions for several disputed terms and rejected a number of additional limitations proposed by NanoString. Read case
A. O. Smith: What Should It Do With Its China Platform?
For decades, A. O. Smith had built a substantial water-heater and water-treatment business in China. The company reported roughly 8,700 points of sale, about 4,200 employees in China, and nearly 30 years of operating presence. Yet demand had weakened. Read case
AAR Corp.: Integrating MRO Holdings Without Losing the Operating Edge
On September 28, 2026, AAR Corp. announced a definitive agreement to acquire a 65% controlling interest in MRO Holdings, a heavy airframe maintenance provider. The agreement was signed, but the acquisition had not closed. Closing was expected in AAR’s fiscal third quarter ending February 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions. Read case
Academy Sports + Outdoors: Where Should the Next Capital Go?
On September 9, Academy Sports + Outdoors reported that second-quarter fiscal 2026 net sales increased 3.0%, even as comparable sales slipped 0.4%. Comparable transactions fell 5.3%, while average ticket rose 4.9%. E-commerce sales also grew, though the release and 10-Q reported different growth rates. Read case
Airbnb: What should come after the stay?
On May 8, 2024, Airbnb reported first-quarter revenue of $2.1 billion, up 18% from a year earlier. Its combined measure of Nights and Experiences Booked had increased 9.5%. The letter credited booking growth, a modest increase in average daily rates, and the timing of Easter among the factors behind revenue growth. Read case
Ameriprise Financial: When to Turn Authorization into Repurchases?
On September 29, Ameriprise Financial announced that its board had authorized an additional $5.5 billion in share repurchases through September 30, 2028. The announcement did not require the company to buy any minimum number of shares. Management could begin or suspend repurchases at any time, depending on market conditions and other factors. Read case
Apollo Global Management: Scale the engine—or put gates on it?
Apollo had joined its alternative-asset-management platform with Athene, a retirement-services business, effective January 1, 2022. Read case
Apple — Who Pays for Openness?
On 25 January 2024, Apple announced major changes to iOS, Safari and the App Store in the European Union. Among them: iPhone users would be able to install apps from alternative marketplaces, and developers could use payment providers other than Apple’s in-app purchase system. Apple also announced new EU commercial terms for developers who wanted those capabilities. Read case
Applied Materials: Who Gets the First Look?
Applied Materials sells equipment and services used to manufacture semiconductors and displays. Semiconductor manufacturing depends on tightly linked steps: a tool must work with the materials and processes around it, then meet a chipmaker’s yield, throughput, and reliability requirements at production scale. Read case
AppLovin — Scaling the Flip Relationship
On 2 April 2024, AppLovin and Flip announced that Flip would soon relaunch an advertising marketplace for merchants using AppLovin’s AXON technology. AppLovin had already agreed to invest $50 million in Flip’s Series C, expected to represent about 4.1% of Flip’s fully diluted ownership, and Flip had already entered a commercial agreement to use AXON. Read case
Ares Management: Scaling Private Credit in the Wealth Channel
In May 2024, Ares Management described a fast-growing wealth business and ambitious goals for its semi-liquid product platform. One of those products, Ares Strategic Income Fund (ASIF), offered individual investors access to private credit through a continuously offered, non-traded business development company. Read case
Arista Networks — Where to Place the Next Bet?
On 4 August 2026, Arista Networks reported its first quarterly revenue above $3 billion and announced new 1.6 Tbps AI fabric platforms. The following day, its Form 10-Q described demand for networking as strong while warning that the long-term trajectory of AI networking remained unknown. Read case
ADP: Who sets the limits on the payroll agent?
In January 2026, ADP introduced a new set of ADP Assist agents for employees, managers, HR teams, and payroll practitioners. Read case
BNY Mellon: Scaling an AI-enabled platform
By the end of July 2026, BNY Mellon had made a substantial shift toward a platform operating model and had begun deploying artificial-intelligence tools across the firm. Its leaders described AI as a strategic opportunity for client service and efficiency. The same disclosures emphasized implementation, model, cyber, third-party and governance risks. Read case
Becton Dickinson: Preparing for a Phasix Indication That Has Not Yet Been Proven
Imagine that you advise Becton, Dickinson and Company’s Surgery leadership on October 2, 2026. The question is how much to invest in preparing for possible U.S. prophylactic use of Phasix Mesh while a large clinical trial remains in follow-up. This is a hypothetical resource-allocation decision, not a reported management meeting or an announced BD budget. Read case
Block — Should Cash App Local Grow Beyond Its Test?
In the second quarter of 2024, Block began testing Cash App Local with a handful of Square sellers. A customer could order from Cash App and earn cash back after signing up through a seller QR code or at the point of sale. Block said it was starting small as it identified the most compelling offerings. Read case
Booking Holdings — The Rules of the Marketplace
In January 2024, Spain's competition authority, the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC), notified Booking.com of a draft decision proposing a €486 million fine and restrictions on certain parity provisions and the criteria Booking.com could use to rank hotels. Read case
Broadridge Financial Solutions: How to sequence a platform launch?
On 16 September 2024, Broadridge Financial Solutions announced Global Asset Servicing, a platform bringing together more than 18 components across capital markets, wealth management, asset management and global custody. The listed services included tax and performance reporting, cost basis, proxy, class actions, reclaims and global custody. Read case
Calix: Invest Ahead of the Broadband Buildout?
On 22 July 2024, Calix, Inc. reported second-quarter revenue of $198.1 million, down 24% from a year earlier and 12% sequentially. Revenue EDGE and Intelligent Access EDGE appliance sales had weakened. Yet gross margin had improved, Calix Cloud and managed-service deployments were increasing, and remaining performance obligations (RPO) had grown year over year. Read case
CAMP4 Therapeutics: Sequencing Capital Across a Platform
On May 14, 2025, CAMP4 Therapeutics had three distinct demands on its capital: continue a clinical program for urea cycle disorders (UCDs), advance a newly nominated SYNGAP1 candidate toward toxicology and clinical testing, and sustain the discovery platform and partnership work that could generate future programs. Read case
Candel Therapeutics: Should It Commit to the Next Glioblastoma Trial?
On October 2, 2026, Candel Therapeutics was preparing for a possible prostate-cancer biologics license application (BLA), starting a global pivotal lung-cancer trial, and advancing a separate viral immunotherapy for recurrent glioblastoma. Each program carried scientific promise and uncertainty. Read case
Canton Strategic Holdings: when should a treasury company buy back its shares?
Canton Strategic Holdings, Inc. had recently changed both its business focus and its name. Formerly Tharimmune, the company began trading as CNTN in February 2026 after launching a Canton Coin (CC) treasury strategy in November 2025. Read case
Capital Bancorp: sequencing integration within a disclosed conversion baseline
Capital Bancorp had agreed to be acquired by Peoples Bancorp in an all-stock transaction. Both boards had approved the agreement, but shareholder and regulatory approvals and other closing conditions remained. Management expected the combination to close in the first half of 2027. Read case
Cardinal Infrastructure Group: integrate Allied or keep acquiring?
You advise Cardinal Infrastructure Group’s leadership on October 2, the day after Allied Paving closed. Cardinal has spent the past year expanding its site-civil platform and now has a newly amended acquisition facility. Read case
Cboe Global Markets: When Is an Overnight Market Ready?
On 29 May 2026, the SEC approved amended EDGX rules for a 23-hours-per-day, five-days-per-week equity schedule. The approval created a path to overnight trading; it did not itself authorize EDGX to open the new session. Read case
CBRE: One platform, distinct businesses?
On July 29, 2026, CBRE Group filed its second-quarter report. Its Building Operations & Experience segment—BOE—reported $6.686 billion in revenue for the quarter, up from $5.833 billion a year earlier. The segment combines facilities management, property management, critical infrastructure services, and flexible workplace solutions. Read case
Cencora: When Should Nucleus Scale?
On June 17, 2026, Cencora announced a phased pilot of the next generation of Nucleus, its inventory-management solution for specialty physician practices. The planned pilot spans more than 20 sites. Cencora said it would assess system performance across practice settings and gather feedback. Read case
Charles River Laboratories: Turning an AMAP Goal into a Portfolio
On 16 April 2024, Charles River Laboratories International announced its Alternative Methods Advancement Project (AMAP), an initiative to develop alternatives that reduce reliance on animal testing in drug discovery and development. Read case
Citigroup Inc. — How Much “One Firm”?
In May 2026, Citigroup described five connected businesses—Services, Markets, Banking, Wealth and U.S. Consumer Cards—and a “one firm” approach to serving clients across them. The design put relationship teams, shared client information, referral processes and incentives around the full client relationship. Read case
Cognizant: Governing the AI Builder at Scale
In July 2026, Cognizant said it would scale to 5,000 Frontier Certified Engineers and 10,000 Frontier Business Operators. Its first cohort was expected to be assessed and deployment-ready in the fourth quarter. The company described the roles as part of an AI Builder model that combines industry and technology expertise with client knowledge. Read case
Coinbase — Choosing the Next Growth Engine
At the close of 2023, Coinbase had three plausible sources of growth. Its core trading products served consumers and institutions; USDC and related services could connect reserve-backed stablecoin balances with payment use; and Base offered a platform on which developers could build on-chain applications. Read case
Copart and ACV: How Much Integration After the Deal?
On September 10, 2026, Copart agreed to acquire ACV Auctions for $10.50 per share in cash, an announced equity value of approximately $1.9 billion. Read case
Corpay: How Far Should the Agent Go?
By early October 2026, Corpay had announced several AI capabilities in Corpay Complete. Its latest release described agents for spend insights, expense creation by voice, and accounting coding. Earlier in the year, it had announced an AI Virtual Assistant and Agent Card, a capability intended to let trusted AI agents create and use virtual cards within payment controls. Read case
CoStar Group: Can Homes.com Become a Marketplace?
CoStar Group closed 2025 with $3.247 billion in revenue, up 19% from 2024, but a $72 million operating loss and $7 million in net income. Its January 2026 outlook described Homes.com as a fast-growing part of its residential portfolio: subscribers had increased 337% since the first quarter of 2024. Read case
CrowdStrike — How Far Should Falcon Flex Go?
CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform brought together cloud-delivered cybersecurity and IT modules through a single lightweight agent and cloud console. The company said its architecture allowed customers to begin with selected modules and later add modules or endpoints. CrowdStrike sold subscriptions through a direct sales organization working with channel and technology partners. Read case
Datadog — How Wide Should the Platform Reach?
Datadog ended the second quarter of 2026 with revenue of $1.121 billion, up 36% from a year earlier. The company also reported about 4,720 customers with annual recurring revenue (ARR) of at least $100,000, up from about 3,850 a year earlier. In its latest annual report, it said customers were using a growing number of products across its observability and security platform. Read case
DaVita — Where Should It Add Kidney-Care Capacity?
On 29 September 2020, CMS published the final rule for the End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices (ETC) Model. The mandatory model would change payments for selected dialysis facilities and managing clinicians beginning in 2021. Read case
Domino’s Pizza — Should It Open a New Ordering Channel?
Imagine you are advising Domino’s Pizza, Inc. on 11 July 2023. The company has built a large digital-ordering business and a delivery-and-carryout system operated mostly by franchisees. A third-party marketplace could offer another way for customers to find and order Domino’s. Read case
DoorDash: How should the fee rollout be governed?
On July 23, DoorDash announced a change to consumer delivery fees. The company said its Service Fee would vary with delivery effort, including distance and order size. The announcement described the update as a way to better match fees to delivery effort while keeping nearby orders affordable and allowing consumers to order from farther-away merchants. Read case
eBay and Depop: What to Share, What to Keep
In October 2026, eBay has recently completed its acquisition of Depop, a mobile-first, community-powered fashion resale marketplace. eBay says it intends to preserve Depop’s distinct brand, platform, customer experience, and culture while helping it grow and exploring capabilities eBay can contribute. Read case
Ecolab — Integrating CoolIT
On 2 July 2026, Ecolab completed its approximately $4.75 billion cash acquisition of CoolIT Systems, a supplier of coolant distribution units (CDUs), cold plates and direct-to-chip cooling systems for data centers. Ecolab said it planned to introduce a combined platform at SC26 in November: CoolIT hardware alongside Ecolab's 3D TRASAR digital optimization and cooling fluids. Read case
Elevance Health: Renew, rebuild, or retreat in Medicaid?
On August 3, Elevance Health's strategy team is preparing a recommendation for a hypothetical leadership review of its Medicaid business. The question is not whether public health insurance matters to Elevance: the company serves millions of Medicaid members, and state contracts connect its health plans with a broad provider and community network. Read case
Emerson and National Instruments: Escalate or Negotiate?
At 6:55 a.m. Eastern Time on January 17, Emerson announced a $53-per-share all-cash proposal to acquire NI, which Emerson described as an implied enterprise value of $7.6 billion. The offer was already public at the case cutoff. Emerson said it had first submitted $48 per share on May 25, 2022, then delivered the $53 proposal to NI on November 3. Read case
Equifax: What comes after the cloud?
Equifax had spent several years rebuilding its technology infrastructure. The company described the Equifax Cloud as a multi-year investment of more than $1.5 billion. Its aim was to move applications and data to a new architecture, then use that platform to improve reliability, bring products to market faster and make better use of its data and analytics. Read case
ExlService Holdings — Bringing iMerit into EXL’s AI Platform
ExlService Holdings (EXL) completed its acquisition of iMerit on August 3, 2026. EXL had announced that it would integrate iMerit’s Ango platform with EXLerate.ai, EXLdata.ai and EXLdecision.ai. iMerit’s founder and chief executive, Radha Ramaswami Basu, became an EXL executive vice president, Head of iMerit and a member of EXL’s executive committee. , Read case
Expand Energy: Integrating a Gas-Marketing Platform
Expand Energy completed its acquisition of Twin Eagle Holdings, N.A., LLC on September 16, 2026. The close release also said Dan Turco would serve as EVP of Commercial Activities, focus on LNG, and assist with gas-marketing integration. Read case
Expeditors: Automating Customs Without Automating Accountability
In June 2026, Expeditors reorganized Global Technology. By August, management was describing a smaller, more modern technology organization with continuing investment in AI and technology. A hypothetical strategy team is now asked to recommend how the company should scale AI and workflow automation in customs brokerage. Read case
F5: How should it commercialize NGINX One?
F5 announced general availability of NGINX One on 17 September 2024. The cloud console is designed to manage F5 NGINX instances and NGINX Open Source through one interface. F5 described visibility, policy and patch-management features, with security and optimization capabilities and integration with F5 Distributed Cloud Services. Read case
Fair Isaac Corporation: Competing on Mortgage Scores
On 9 September 2026, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) changed an important condition in the conforming-mortgage market. All lenders approved to sell loans to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac could use VantageScore 4.0 on eligible loans without first obtaining written approval. A lender could continue using Classic FICO. Read case
Ford Motor Company: Sequencing the Reset
Ford's July 2026 results carried two messages. The company reported stronger adjusted operating earnings than a year earlier and raised its full-year outlook. Ford Model e, however, still reported a substantial quarterly loss. At the same time, a large charge from unwinding a battery joint venture weighed on GAAP results. Read case
Fortinet: Where Should the Platform Stop?
Fortinet's public filings and product announcements describe a company extending a common security platform in two directions. The first ties network security and secure access more tightly together. The second brings security operations into a cloud-delivered, AI-enabled console. Read case
Fox and Tubi: Keep the Service Free or Test an Ad-Free Tier?
On September 16, 2020, Tubi reported that its monthly active users had reached 33 million in August, up 65% year over year. It also said monthly viewing had exceeded 200 million hours since April and averaged 104% year-over-year growth. Tubi's footnote defines monthly active users (MAU) as unique devices interacting with Tubi-branded apps. Read case
Garmin: Integrating Coach-Led Training Platforms
On July 22, 2026, Garmin announced that it had acquired TrainingPeaks and TrainHeroic, platforms serving endurance and strength athletes and coaches. Garmin said the products would expand access to coach-led training experiences and that 120 associates would join the company. The announcement did not disclose financial terms, acquired-platform results, or a product roadmap. Read case
Gen Digital: One Platform or a Portfolio of Trusted Products?
Gen Digital had spent years protecting consumers’ devices, identities, and privacy through brands such as Norton, Avast, and LifeLock. In 2025 it added MoneyLion, a personal-finance platform, marketplace, and set of first-party financial products. Management’s direction was to connect cyber safety and financial wellness as one broader consumer need. Read case
Global Payments: Integrating for Scale Without Losing the Fit
On Monday, January 12, Global Payments announced that it had completed its acquisition of Worldpay and the sale of its Issuer Solutions business to FIS. The transactions had legally closed three days earlier, on January 9. Read case
GoDaddy — Where Should Airo Sit?
GoDaddy's Airo product was expanding from AI-assisted website creation into a broader set of tools for small businesses. On July 30, 2026, the company reported a $50 million annualized bookings run rate for Airo, five times the $10 million figure it had reported one quarter earlier. Read case
Healthpeak Properties: How fast should Janus Living grow?
Healthpeak Properties created Janus Living as a publicly traded, RIDEA-structured senior-housing REIT. Janus completed its IPO in March 2026. Healthpeak retained 73.6% of Janus’s equity at June 30 and manages the company through an indirect subsidiary; public investors held the remaining 26.4%. Read case
IDEXX inVue Dx — How Fast Should the Rollout Grow?
At 6:30 a.m. Eastern on October 31, 2024, IDEXX Laboratories reported nearly 700 pre-orders for its new inVue Dx cellular analyzer and said shipments were expected to begin later in the fourth quarter. An earnings call was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. . Read case
Intercontinental Exchange — One Fixed-Income Ecosystem?
On July 30, 2026, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) announced a definitive agreement to acquire MarketAxess, an electronic fixed-income trading platform. ICE described the combination as a way to connect MarketAxess’s institutional investor and broker-dealer network with ICE’s retail and wealth bond trading, fixed-income data, analytics and indices. Read case
International Flavors & Fragrances: Where Should Shared Capabilities Live?
On August 4, 2026, International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF) reported its second-quarter results and described a company with a changing portfolio. The company had sold its Pharma Solutions and Nitrocellulose businesses in May 2025. It had completed the sale of Soy Crush, Concentrates & Lecithin (SCL) in March 2026. Read case
Intuit: How Much Should the Agent Do?
Intuit’s strategy is to build an AI-driven expert platform for consumers, businesses and accountants. Its FY2026 Form 10-K describes combining company data, AI, domain expertise and a network of AI-enabled human experts to provide recommendations and complete tasks. Read case
Invesco — Building an Active ETF Business
In May 2026, Invesco CEO Andrew Schlossberg described a launch-led approach to active ETFs: build through new products, “not through conversions, probably not through share class extensions.” The statement set a direction, but did not name candidate products, a launch pipeline, funding levels, or review gates. Read case
Jabil — Staging an India AI Infrastructure Alliance
On 15 June 2026, Jabil and Adani Enterprises announced their intent to form a strategic alliance for an AI and data-center infrastructure manufacturing platform in India. The release described broad product ambitions, from AI racks and servers to power and cooling equipment. It also said definitive operating frameworks and formal documentation were still in progress. Read case
Jack Henry — Modernize the Core, Protect the Trust
You are an outside strategy adviser preparing a memo for an investment committee. The committee wants to assess Jack Henry & Associates' multi-year plan to modernize core banking technology through a new public-cloud-native, API-first platform while continuing to support its existing bank and credit-union systems. Read case
Jefferies and SMBC: Turning an Expanded Alliance into a Portfolio of Choices
On September 19, 2025, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) announced a broad expansion of their relationship. Read case
Johnson Controls: Governing the Next Stage of AI Building Controls
Johnson Controls International plc (JCI) had made two public moves in 2026: it acquired Nantum AI, then launched new AI capabilities in OpenBlue, its digital building ecosystem. Energy & Comfort Intelligence (ECI), powered by Nantum, was intended to optimize air circulation across air-handling units, fans and related systems. Read case
Live Nation: How Much Capacity, How Much Proof?
Live Nation enters its FY2027 planning cycle with strong reported ticketing activity, a large venue pipeline, and continuing uncertainty about project-level returns and the legal terms under which venues and ticketing may operate. A hypothetical strategy team must recommend how quickly to commit to venue expansion. Read case
Marsh: One Platform, Four Kinds of Expertise?
In October 2025, Marsh McLennan announced a new Business and Client Services unit (BCS) to centralize investments in operational excellence, data, artificial intelligence, and analytics. The company also began a brand transition that took effect in January 2026. A hypothetical leadership team is now preparing its next cycle of operating priorities. Read case
Mastercard: Choosing Where to Extend the Network
On March 1, 2024, Mastercard’s strategy team is preparing for its next planning cycle. The network is growing, services revenue is growing faster than the core payment-network line, and policy proposals could change routing or issuer economics. Read case
Moderna — Funding the Platform After the Pandemic
You are advising Moderna’s leadership on how to allocate clinical, manufacturing and commercial capacity while the company works toward a lower operating-cost base. The May 1 update sets 2027 GAAP operating costs at $4.7–$5.0 billion, down $1.4–$1.7 billion from the 2025 estimate, while the company says it is advancing as many as ten products toward approval. Read case
MSCI: One climate-risk workflow—or interoperable specialist tools?
On August 3, 2026, MSCI announced it had completed its acquisition of First Street, a provider of physics-based physical climate-risk data and analytics. The deal was closed. What remained unsettled in the public record was what the combined product and operating design would look like in practice. Read case
Nike: Balancing Direct and Wholesale
On March 1, 2024, Nike’s marketplace leadership is reviewing how to support consumers through NIKE Direct and wholesale partners. Fiscal 2023 results showed growth in both channels. In the second quarter of fiscal 2024, NIKE Direct grew while external wholesale revenue declined. Read case
NVIDIA: Where Should NVLink Fusion Draw the Platform Boundary?
NVIDIA has announced a way for partners and customers to connect custom compute silicon to NVLink and NVIDIA rack-scale systems. It has also expanded its relationship with Marvell and invested $2 billion in the company. Read case
Omnicell: Connecting the Pharmacy—at What Pace?
On December 12, 2024, Omnicell's leadership team was closing out the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Midyear Clinical Meeting in New Orleans. Three days earlier, the company had announced OmniSphere, a cloud-native workflow engine and data platform intended to connect its automation and medication-management products. Read case
Onity Group: Which servicing growth engine?
Onity Group entered the second half of 2026 with two visible sources of mortgage-servicing growth. Originations and selective mortgage-servicing-rights (MSR) purchases can support owned-book growth, while subservicing contracts add loans to a portfolio another institution owns. Read case
Palo Alto Networks: Sequencing Platform Adoption
On March 1, 2024, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) has recently announced an accelerated platformization and consolidation strategy. The company has described three platforms—Network Security, Cloud Security and Security Operations—and says customers can consolidate products across them. Read case
Paychex: How far should the platforms converge?
In early August 2026, Paychex had completed its acquisition of Paycor and was reporting strong growth. It also described three proprietary HCM platforms—SurePayroll, Paychex Flex and Paycor—designed for different customer needs. The integration question was no longer only whether the acquisition could add scale. Read case
PayPal: giving the new businesses room to move
On April 29, PayPal announced three businesses intended to sharpen accountability and speed execution. By the morning after its second-quarter results, the structure was public, but the operating rules were not. Read case
Public Storage: What should follow the NSA combination?
On July 22, Public Storage (PSA) completed its all-stock combination with National Storage Affiliates (NSA). The transaction expanded the operating platform under the Public Storage brand to more than 4,500 locations and 327 million rentable square feet, according to PSA. But the quarter-end operating data available to executives still described PSA before the merger closed. Read case
Qualcomm: Where to place the next engineering dollar?
On the afternoon of November 1, Qualcomm Incorporated released results for fiscal 2023 and filed its annual report. The company had just reported a sharp contraction in its handset business, while automotive revenue continued to grow. Read case
Regency Centers: How Fast Should the Pipeline Grow?
Regency Centers had announced a goal of starting more than $1 billion of development and redevelopment projects over five years. Its current in-process pipeline was estimated at $547.1 million of project costs at Regency’s pro-rata share. Management estimated that pipeline would stabilize at about a 9% yield, with 46% of costs incurred and approximately $295 million remaining. Read case
Royal Caribbean Group: What comes after Mahahual?
In late July 2026, Royal Caribbean Group was still telling investors it expected its private-destination portfolio to expand from three locations to eight by 2028. But its most prominent planned Mexican destination had encountered a regulatory impasse. Read case
Salesforce — Funding the Next Layer of the Customer Platform
At 4:05 p.m. on November 29, Salesforce made its third-quarter FY2024 results public. Revenue had grown 11% year over year, subscription and support revenue 13%, and current remaining performance obligation 14%. The company also reported a 17.2% GAAP operating margin and a 31.2% non-GAAP margin. Read case
S&P Global: AI, data and the customer interface
S&P Global had entered a new chapter. On July 1, 2026, it separated its Mobility division into Mobility Global, leaving Ratings, Indices, Energy and Market Intelligence as its four operating segments. Read case
ServiceNow: Prove the Value or Expand the Platform?
On July 24, 2024, ServiceNow reported that subscription revenue had grown 23% year over year in the second quarter. The same release said net-new annual contract value (NNACV) for Now Assist, the company's generative-AI product family, had doubled sequentially. Eleven Q2 transactions had more than $1 million in Now Assist NNACV. Read case
Snap-on — Building the Independent-Shop Diagnostics Proposition
On February 12, 2026, Snap-on filed its FY2025 Form 10-K. A hypothetical executive team is deciding how to prioritize the next two to three years of product, software, support, and channel resources for professional diagnostics used by U.S. independent repair shops. Read case
Snowflake: Funding the Next Layer of the Data Platform
On September 29, Snowflake priced $3.75 billion of zero-coupon convertible senior notes, split between notes due in 2029 and 2031. The company estimated net proceeds of $3.70 billion and expected the transaction to close on October 1, two days after the information cutoff for this case. Read case
SoFi’s Next Loan: Keep It, Place It, or Pass?
On May 6, 2025, SoFi Technologies filed its first-quarter report showing another record quarter for personal-loan originations. The report also showed how much the company’s lending model was changing: a growing share of the loans were being originated for institutional partners rather than held on SoFi’s own balance sheet. Read case
Sonida Senior Living: How Far Should Integration Go?
On August 10, 2026, Sonida Senior Living reported its first full quarter-end results since completing its acquisition of CNL Healthcare Properties (CHP) in March. It reported a broader portfolio of 164 owned, managed or invested-in communities with more than 16,500 units across 35 states, including 152 owned communities. Read case
SoundHound AI: How Fast Should LivePerson Move into OASYS?
SoundHound AI completed its acquisition of LivePerson on September 4, 2026. In the closing announcement, SoundHound said LivePerson’s digital-engagement platform would be integrated into OASYS, its conversational-AI platform, to support interactions across voice, web, mobile, SMS and social channels. Read case
State Street Alpha: Where Should Integration Begin?
State Street had spent five years building State Street Alpha, a platform intended to connect investment software, data, and servicing across the front, middle, and back offices. Its latest quarterly release showed both activity and uncertainty: Alpha had 23 live mandates, while two different measures of the software business were moving in opposite directions. Read case
Supermicro: building the AI data center
Super Micro Computer, Inc. (Supermicro) had grown rapidly as customers invested in AI computing. Its strategy was to broaden beyond servers and storage into a more integrated data-center offering: computing, networking, power, cooling, software, deployment and support. The company called this approach Data Center Building Block Solutions (DCBBS). Read case
Synchrony Financial — Financing the Next Checkout
At 6:00:43 a.m. Eastern Time on 24 October 2023, the SEC accepted Synchrony Financial's third-quarter results filing. The company had scheduled its results call for 8:00 a.m. Its results showed a business growing in purchase volume and receivables while credit costs and funding expense were rising. Read case
Synopsys: Who Owns the Engineering Agent?
On September 28, 2026, Synopsys announced AgentEngineer, a portfolio of long-horizon engineering agents, and Autopilot, a platform intended to orchestrate agents, tools, models, and engineering workflows. The company said more than 50 customer engagements were underway and that general availability was planned by year-end. Read case
Take-Two and Zynga: Vote for Mobile Scale?
Take-Two Interactive Software has signed an agreement to acquire mobile-game publisher Zynga. The board recommends that Take-Two stockholders approve the share issuance and a charter amendment that increases the company's authorized share capital. The proposals are separate, but both relate to completing the transaction. Read case
Thermo Fisher and Olink — Scaling Proteomics Through Access or Integration?
On 17 October 2023, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that both boards had approved its proposal to acquire Olink Holding for $26 per share or American depositary share in cash. The announcement valued the transaction at approximately $3.1 billion, including $143 million of Olink net cash, and represented a 74% premium to Olink’s closing share price the prior day. Read case
The Trade Desk — Where Should the Next Capacity Go?
At 12:10 p.m. Eastern on February 15, The Trade Desk (TTD) had filed its FY2023 Form 10-K just minutes earlier. You advise a hypothetical product leadership team deciding where the next increment of fixed FY2024 engineering and partner-enablement capacity should go. The company has not disclosed a fixed budget or a choice among the initiatives below. Read case
Truist Financial: What Should It Do With Insurance?
In early November 2023, Truist Financial had two sizable businesses with different economics. Its bank held $400.0 billion in deposits and reported a preliminary Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 9.9%. Its insurance operation generated fee-oriented revenue and gave Truist a presence in commercial insurance brokerage. Read case
Uber: How Deep Should the Platform Go in Autonomous Mobility?
Uber had spent years building a marketplace that connected riders with independent drivers. Autonomous vehicles (AVs) introduced a different kind of supply: vehicles and software supplied by partners, often with their own capital needs, operating requirements and customer relationships. Read case
VeriSign: Investing Through the .com Price Window
VeriSign operates the .com and .net generic top-level domains (TLDs). Its registry systems maintain the authoritative registration database and support domain-name resolution. Registrars sell registrations and renewals to customers; VeriSign charges registrars registry wholesale fees. Read case
Vertex Pharmaceuticals: Organizing for Several Commercial Models
By early 2024, Vertex was preparing to commercialize products that would reach patients through different channels. Its established cystic fibrosis (CF) medicines moved primarily through a limited number of specialty pharmacies and distributors, supported by a small U.S. field-based commercial team focused on a relatively small prescriber group, many at accredited CF centers. Read case
Warner Bros. Discovery: Which Rights Travel With Max?
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) makes and distributes films, television programs, news, sports and other content through theaters, television networks, streaming services and third-party distributors. Read case
W.W. Grainger: Where Should Digital Self-Service End?
Grainger had built a business in which digital ordering and specialist support were both part of the offer. Its March 2026 investor presentation reported that 75% of High-Touch Solutions U.S. (HTS U.S.) orders flowed through digital channels, while describing a sales team of more than 4,000, technical product support, inventory management and onsite services. Read case