Cardsmith Inc. Case Study

MNGT 3700

Introduction to Entrepreneurship

CardSmith Inc. case study

1) As Taran mentions in the case study, him and Mitch were a good combination. Mitch had strategies, ideas, and skills as a salesperson and Taran, a computer engineering major student, knew how to implement plans and to cross business and technological aspects of their venture. In addition to that, partners learned a lot from their experience with Student Advantage, especially important were “lessons” of what not to do. Main reason why SA failed was their eagerness for horizontal expansion instead of vertical; this made them vulnerable in every area they covered. Mitch did not like that aspect from the beginning, so he resigned and acquired Comdata, a financial and transaction processor that specialized in card payment transactions. After SA was acquired by Blackboard Taran and his team also left and teamed up with Mitch again. Experienced from the mistakes of SA, partners started their venture small, concentrating on card payment system for schools only, aiming just for breakeven point.

2) I think that CardSmith should continue pursuing their opportunity with NASA because it will give them the leverage which none of their competitors have, since NASA is a government supported agency, therefore it is also a fail proof decision. It will also create a reputation for CardSmith. The only problem that Taran noted is whether their management team is good enough. Since the technology they use is proven to work already, they just need to concentrate on their management in order make sure of their success with NASA. Plus it will not be too much of a spread for them, since it also seems that NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida has a structure similar to University Campus.

3) One of the first challenges Taran and Mitch encountered was raising money at