Podcast
Cold Call
Hosted by HBR Presents / Brian Kenny · EN
Cold Call distills Harvard Business School's legendary case studies into podcast form. Hosted by Brian Kenny, the podcast airs every two weeks and features Harvard Business School faculty discussing cases they've written and the lessons they impart.
33episodes
Episodes
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Inside India’s Energy Transition: Tata Power’s Net Zero Strategy
Oct 2800:36:17Tap to summarizeTata Power stood at the forefront of India’s energy transition. The firm’s long history was deeply intertwined with the country’s development. As Mumbai’s power needs increased, Tata Power built out thermal assets across India, and while thermal power generation remained Tata Power’s mainstay, the firm slowly started diversifying. By 2024, Tata Power was India’s largest private power producer by installed capacity with annual revenues of $7.4 billion. In 2020, Tata Power boldly announced a commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050, concurrent with a complete phase-down of thermal capacity. It later brought this commitment forward to 2045. To prepare for declining revenues from thermal power generation, it was actively expanding its renewable business, but stakeholders had concerns about Tata Power’s ambitions. Was the firm’s decision to sacrifice potentially high returns in thermal power generation financially imprudent, or did it position the firm well as India inevitably accelerated its energy transition? In this episode, host Brian Kenny welcomes Harvard Business School Professor Vikram Gandhi and Tata Power CEO Praveer Sinha to discuss the case Tata Power and India’s Energy Transition, and how India’s largest private power producer is reimagining its future. They explore how the legacy energy company should allocate capital between proven thermal assets and emerging renewable technologies, and what lessons the company’s journey offers for leaders navigating disruption, investor expectations, and the balance between profits and purpose.
Transcribe →Atlassian Anchors Remote Flexibility in Structured Daily Practices
Aug 19Tap to summarizeIn 2020, Atlassian committed to a fully distributed model, allowing employees to work from anywhere, permanently. While many tech peers later reversed course on remote work, Atlassian optimized its approach, developing data-driven routines, rethinking office spaces, and reshaping team rituals for its 12,000 employees in 13 countries. By 2024, these practices had moved beyond HR policy to become central to the company’s strategy. Lessons from Atlassian’s internal experiments began to shape its collaboration software, turning its workforce into an innovation lab. But selling these practices to enterprise customers posed a new challenge: unlike Atlassian’s traditional self-serve model, distributed work transformation required hands-on support, strategic advising, and cultural change, capabilities the company had not previously built into its go-to-market approach. Harvard Business School Associate Professor Ashley Whillans joins host Brian Kenny to discuss the case “Designing the Future of Work: Atlassian’s Distributed Work Practices” and the questions Atlassian’s leaders face: how to scale what works without losing flexibility, how tightly to integrate practices into products, and how to guide customers through a distributed work transformation that requires more than software alone.
Transcribe →Scaling a Family Business While Maintaining Founding Values
Dec 24, 202400:31:06Tap to summarizeOne of the oldest Black-owned security firms in the United States, Johnson Security Bureau, provided mainly unarmed guards to New York banks, public works, and hospitals. The company’s status as a woman-owned, minority-owned firm had been crucial to its competitive strategy since CEO Jessica Johnson-Cope took over the firm from her father. In order to grow the family business, however, Johnson-Cope considered partnering with security firms in other states, something that threatened to put some of the company’s founding priorities on the back burner. She also considered expanding the business into cybersecurity. In this conversation with host Brian Kenny, Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Henry McGee and CEO Jessica Johnson-Cope discuss the issues of scaling a minority-owned family business that are at the heart of the case “Johnson Security Bureau: Building Multigenerational Success.”
Transcribe →A New Model for Funding Healthcare Innovation
Dec 10, 202400:38:32Tap to summarizeEntrepreneur Duke Rohlen creates California-based Ajax Health under a new model for innovation and business growth. Calling it the “Chassis and Growth Drivers” model, he structures it to create innovative new products to capture a higher portion of the financial returns. Partnering with major private equity firms, Rohlen considers a $1 billion bid to buy Cordis. If Ajax’s bid is successful, they will invest an additional $300 million to fund an off-balance sheet accelerator, which will develop innovative new products to drive revenue growth. Should Rohlen and his partners invest the $1.3 billion to implement this model? Is Cordis the right opportunity for Rohlen and his team? Ajax Health founder Duke Rohlen (HBS MBA 2001) and HBS Professor Regina Herzlinger join host Brian Kenny to discuss the key success factors for both start-up and established medical technology firms. The case “Ajax Health: A New Model for Medical Technology Innovation” showcases how to structure a firm—in any industry—to maximize innovation and financial returns by better aligning incentives for the different skill sets required.
Transcribe →How Entertainment Lawyer John Branca Negotiated for the Beatles Songs Catalog
Nov 26, 202400:31:17Tap to summarizeIn 1985, pop music superstar Michael Jackson instructed his attorney, John Branca, to bid for the Northern Songs music catalog, which contained the songs of the Beatles. In a challenging negotiation, Branca secured the rights to the collection. Over the next three decades, first as Jackson’s attorney and later as the executor of his estate, Branca undertook numerous complex negotiations to secure and expand Jackson’s music publishing empire until it became the largest music publishing company in the world. Harvard Business School professor James K. Sebenius joins host Brian Kenny and a live audience of Harvard Business School alumni to discuss how to deal with tough negotiators effectively and ethically in his case, John Branca: “Negotiating the Beatles’ Northern Songs Catalog.”
Transcribe →How Pernod Ricard Is Integrating AI into Its Workforce
Nov 12, 202400:29:56Tap to summarizeWith operations in 70 countries and 20,000 employees, Pernod Ricard is a leader in premium international spirits. The company had achieved its leadership position in the market largely through strategic acquisition and an ability to build and grow its brand over time. But pressure to continually expand its extensive brand portfolio in order to meet customer demand meant that its traditional analog processes were not allowing the company to effectively manage its huge portfolio of products. In response, the company launched four key digital programs (KDPs) aimed at using data and artificial intelligence to automate processes and enable data-driven decision-making. Pernod Ricard’s future direction with the KDPs depended on addressing internal resistance, providing effective training and support, aligning with strategic goals, and overcoming logistical and data-related hurdles. The company needed to find a way to expand these programs into new markets while reinforcing adoption where they had already been launched. Harvard Business School assistant professors Iavor Bojinov and Edward McFowland III explore the opportunities and challenges of the company’s digital transformation journey in the case, “Pernod Ricard: Uncorking Digital Transformation.”
Transcribe →Can a Coffee Shop in Utah Help Solve Underemployment for People with Disabilities?
Oct 29, 202400:27:40Tap to summarizeKatie Holyfield and Taylor Matkins founded Lucky Ones Coffee in 2017, a coffee shop with a mission to create jobs in Park City, Utah, for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The company quickly earned strong support from the local community, and by early 2023, Holyfield and Matkins employed 17 people across two coffee shops. The two entrepreneurs must now decide how to grow their business to create more jobs and how to structure the business to ensure that it remains a sustainable and financially sound enterprise as it scales. Harvard Business School professor Rick Ruback and one of the case’s co-developers Joe Higgins discuss the business case for hiring employees with disabilities, “Lucky Ones Coffee: Employing People with Disabilities.”
Transcribe →What Sequoia Capital Can Teach Leaders About Sustaining Long-Term Growth
Oct 15, 202400:28:53Tap to summarizeSequoia Capital, a venture capital firm founded in 1972, grew to become one of the most storied venture capital firms in the world. The firm’s investment track record includes the names of some of the largest global companies. But the venture capital industry began facing new challenges in 2022, and investors were increasingly cautious. At that time Sequoia also began restructuring the firm and made other changes to their core identity. What would all of this mean for the future of Sequoia, and would the firm still be able to maintain their historical dominance? Harvard Business School senior lecturers Jo Tango and Christina Wallace discuss their case, “Sequoia Capital.”
Transcribe →Choosing Passion: A Founder’s Mission to Meet a Need for Obesity Care
Oct 1, 202400:33:20Tap to summarizeEarly in her career Brooke Boyarsky Pratt (MBA 2013) enjoyed considerable success in roles at McKinsey and Berkadia, a Berkshire Hathaway portfolio company. But a routine visit to the doctor in 2020, where she experienced weight stigma yet again, led her to address the problem of obesity care. Boyarsky Pratt had struggled with her weight since she was young. So when she started knownwell, an integrated weight and primary care provider that was designed to support people with obesity, it was a huge step for her both personally and professionally. In the spring of 2023, knownwell opened its first weight-inclusive clinic in the Boston area. But Boyarsky Pratt had to make a fundamental decision on how she wanted to grow the company. Should she grow slowly and build a small footprint of clinics in the Boston area over the next few years? Or should she scale fast to potentially help millions of people across the U.S.? Boyarsky Pratt joins Harvard Business School assistant professor Jon Jachimowicz to discuss what it means to pursue your passion in the case, “Choosing the Course of Passion: Brooke Boyarsky Pratt at knownwell.”
Transcribe →Fawn Weaver’s Entrepreneurial Journey as an Outsider in the Spirits Industry
Sep 17, 202400:25:00Tap to summarizeIn 2017 Fawn Weaver launched a premium American whiskey brand, Uncle Nearest. It became the fastest growing and most awarded whiskey brand in America, despite the challenges Weaver faced as a Black woman and outsider to the spirits industry, which is capital-intensive, highly regulated, competitive, and male-dominated. In October 2023, Weaver announced plans to expand into cognac with the goal of building the next major alcoholic beverages conglomerate. But the company was still heavily reliant on capital. How could Weaver convince new investors that her plans for cognac would yield success? Harvard Business School senior lecturer Hise Gibson discusses Weaver’s leadership style, growth strategies, and her use of storytelling to connect customers with her brand in the case, Uncle Nearest: Creating a Legacy.
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