Start-Up Case Workshop

NACRA 2023 Start-Up Cases’ Workshop

From invention to the global marketplace. Strategy of an entrepreneurial start-up

Nino Tandilashvili, ISC Paris Business School (France)

Marina Tabatadze, Tbilisi State University (Georgia)
Anna Tandilashvili, Ilia State University (Georgia)

Target Course:
Graduate, Strategy.
Industry:
Energy and natural resources sector, Agriculture sector
Data Sources:
Library Research, Interviews, Consulting, Personal Experience

Draft Case Opener

- “Doesn’t it usually take a few years or decades to clean up the oil spill?” – asked George to his mother
who was staring at the results of her latest laboratory test.
- “Seems like it can be done in only six months” – answered the mother, smiling.
- “We need to tell the World about this” – exclaimed George.

This is the story of a family-based start-up in Georgia - Scientific Practical Center of Biotechnologies LLC
– which started in 2021 when a business educated son decided to turn his scientist mother’s invention into
a business.
The mother, bio scientist Mariam Mchedlishvili, was working on a technology of chemical spill cleans up
for several years. After testing different approaches, she finally came up with a novel technology which
breaks down the oil and other chemicals faster than any other technique and thus manages to clean up
contaminated territory ten times faster. Her technology is simple to use - pouring special microorganisms
to a contaminated environment which break down the chemical into tiny cells.

Realizing the importance of the discovery, her son, a business graduate George Mchedlishvili, immediately
started to work on turning the innovation into a business. However, with no experience and resources, it
was hard to start up. Things started to accelerate when they found their first investor: a local businessman
with a scientific background.

Summary of the rest of the case

This case illustrates how a new technology invention can be turned into a successful business. It presents a
family-based start-up which began in a garage in the suburbs of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, and in a
short period of time, managed to compete with the World’s leading scientific laboratories. Traditionally the
strategy courses focus on the causality approach of business development. Even if this approach is well
appropriate for an ideal business environment, where planning and execution go without major disruptions,
the current business setting shows that the environment is uncertain and difficult to predict. Using the
effectuation framework, students will see how understanding start-up’s resources and capabilities along
Start-Up Case Workshop

with the competitive landscape, will guide innovation-based start-ups through decision-making and
development.
It all started very slowly. Without any business experience and financial resources, the founders of Scientific
Practical Center of Biotechnologies LLC had to improvise in order for them to face a very uncertain
environment. Having a great idea or even a great invention is not enough. What happens when the invention
is over and it is time to work? The mother and the son asked the father to join the team and help them
manually build all the necessary machinery for the production. This step allowed them to attract the first
investor.
The second step was to obtain the patent for the innovation. With the support of the government agency in
charge of small business development, the start-up had the proof of holding a World unique technology. It
was time to target the international marketplace. Indeed, the Georgian market was too small given the scale
of the innovation. Once again, the team sought for a new member in charge of representing the start-up to
potential international customers. Being a small-size start-up without any business experience and directly
targeting an international market, made the exercise particularly difficult.
Proposition of case exhibits: Financial calculation of the production charges, resources (VRIO) analysis,
(Effectuation) process framework, competitive map…

Synopsis of the following instructor’s manual sections

The case is at the crossroad between strategy and entrepreneurship and relevant theories also come from
the two disciplines. The case can be approached as an innovation management exercise, or growth
management, or as an entrepreneurial start-up development study. The effectuation theory applies to this
last application, as well as comparison of "emergent" versus "deliberate" strategy.
After reading and discussing this case, the students should be able to:
1. Recognize the challenges that an innovative technology-based start-up faces; Understanding the
nature of growth of an entrepreneurial start-up – What happens when the dream turns to reality?
2. Understanding how strategy works in small start-ups compared the large firms.
3. Identify the main steps of the growth from the start up idea to the commercialization.
4. Compare the two entrepreneurial strategies – effectuation vs causation. Identify and discuss the
advantages and disadvantages of both theories. Similarly, compare the "emergent" versus
"deliberate" strategies.
5. Practice start-uppers speech - What would you pitch to potential investors if you were George?
Lastly, the case can be taught at the international business class as a secondary resource, as it also discusses
the steps of entering a new (global) marketplace. The notions such as international vs global marketing, and
the internationalization steps needs to be addressed.

Questions/issues you would like help with at the Start-Up Cases’ Workshop.
The case is suitable for the following courses: strategy, entrepreneurship, international business… What is
the best way to develop it: focusing on one potential course, and thus limiting the theoretical background?
Or, on the contrary, aim at interdisciplinary case study?
Within the same course, the case can be studied either from the innovation management perspective, or
from a start up management (entrepreneurship). How can the two approaches be managed without
confusing the students?
What are the most useful data for graduate students to take the full advantage of the case study?