[Short #4] HBS + NFTs

A few weeks ago I came across this tweet:

Lol so I'm teaching a brand new case study about @BoredApeYC in my MBA course next week; it's so hot off the presses that it's not even cleared for circulation outside of @HarvardHBS yet... ... and it's already out-of-date. Happy $APE day, QED 🙈

12:14 PM ∙ Mar 17, 2022

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I don’t have a MBA nor do I understand how the case study creation process works, but I found this fascinating for a few reasons:

Assuming the class was taught in April 2022, the company in question is barely a year old, a project that started minting in April 2021. I’m not sure how many HBS case studies are based on a company that is barely a year old, but I have to imagine not many. This includes the time it takes to research, write, publish and get it approved which I imagine takes weeks?
“It’s so hot off the presses that it’s not even cleared for circulation” - It seems that Scott expedited publication process and his peers agree that it was worth it. This shows conviction, nice :)
“And it’s already out-of-date.” - No surprise there with all the developments with BAYC (more posts on that in the future, there’s so much going on!) Does that mean there will be followup case studies around BAYC? Is that a thing in the MBA case study world?

The point I’m making here is that NFTs are coming in from all different angles. Whether it’s larger institutions like eToro in yesterday’s post, kids you meet that stare at your shirt if you’re wearing a BAYC logo, or now academic institutions.

NFTs, BAYC, Web3. These are social, business, and economic case studies and HBS has written the first of many to come. I’ve wondered about this for a little while now, and they’re finally here.

There will be a smaller spotlight on this, but can you imagine all the middle school, high school, or college essays and papers being written about NFTs and the space?

I don’t have any proof that this is happening, but if there is chatter about this at the top educational institution in the world, it’s definitely happening on the other levels too.

And this popped up yesterday.