Case Analysis
1 full page and single space. Please follow the all requirement and grading rubric.
Final “live case” analysis*
Ben Pleat, Founder-CEO of Cobu
Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pleat
(Links to an external site.)
Company website: https://www.livecobu.com/
(Links to an external site.)
Press:
https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2020/03/27/apartment-community-building-
app-builds-momentum.html
(Links to an external site.)
****
Cobu is a Boston-based startup founded in 2016 that acts as a virtual community
platform for large multi-home apartment buildings. In brief, Cobu helps neighbors in
apartment communities connect and helps building owners retain residents. Cobu is
currently available in 33,000 apartment homes in the United States and its user base
has been growing steadily since its founding. Renters who live in these complexes
and who are on the Cobu platform are high income (100k-300k), typically live in
urban areas, and are prone to feeling a sense of isolation even outside of the
Covid-19 era since many of them have relocated from their hometowns and/or do not
live with family members.
Looking to the future, founder-CEO Ben Pleat is evaluating whether their historic
revenue strategy continues to make sense as Cobu enters its next phase of growth.
Although Cobu has seen steady growth in number of platform users, the company’s
overall profits have not kept pace. Currently, Cobu’s revenue strategy is to charge
apartment complex owners 4k per apartment complex, regardless of the number of
users, which has been an effective selling point in getting new complex owners on
board. However, Cobu has not yet monetized the user side of the platform, for
example by offering coupons or group discounts to local vendors such as dog
walkers or drycleaners and Pleat wonders if this is a missed opportunity.
As we have learned in the class, startup founders have limited attention and
resources. For the final live case, answer the following: Should Cobu: (a)
continue with the current revenue strategy of charging 4k per apartment complex (b)
shift focus to monetize platform users or (c) do something else (feel free to be
creative!).
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pleat
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pleat
https://www.livecobu.com/
https://www.livecobu.com/
https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2020/03/27/apartment-community-building-app-builds-momentum.html
https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2020/03/27/apartment-community-building-app-builds-momentum.html
https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2020/03/27/apartment-community-building-app-builds-momentum.html
Pick only one option between a,b,c and advocate for it. Think about the potential
pros/cons of each option. Please use outside research and course readings in
advocating for your recommendation! I’d encourage you to think about anticipated
trends in apartment living during and post-Covid in crafting your responses.
****
Analysis format
● 1 full page (excluding tables/figures and references)
● Single spaced
● Submit to Canvas in word or pdf format
Grading Rubric (out of 10 points)
0: Not submitted
2: Summarized the case without offering courses of actions
4: Summarized the case with a bit of market research but without offering courses of actions
6: Summarized the case with a bit of market research + offered courses of actions that are not so
relevant to the problem identified in the case
7: Offered courses of actions that are relevant but failed to explain why
8: Offered courses of actions that are relevant and explained why to some degree
9: Offered courses of actions that are relevant and explained why well
10: Offered courses of actions that are relevant and explained why well + went extra miles in terms of
data collection and/or creativity
-1.0 for late submission
Comment:
This was a well-researched answer. Here’s some tips going forward to elevate your responses.
First, you can safely skip the recap and summary at the beginning: Assume the readers are
already familiar with the facts of the case. Second, while you did a nice job of telling us *what*
you were advocating for, you can also lay out your decision criteria early on in that first thesis
statement to make your argument easier to follow.
Third, there were a couple of nuances mentioned in the live chat discussion that could have
enriched your answer (it’s actually not hard to raise capital in the current environment, and being
out competed isn’t the only risk to pursing one customer– think also complexity and scale).
Grade: B+