An example of a strategic analysis of a company: using Hubspot Inc. this presentation reviews the company's external and internal environments; employs the resource based view of the firm (RBV) and analyses competitive advantage and potential sustainability and strategic leadership of the company by innovators Halligan and Shah. Logo and images of founders from Hubspot website, with full rights to images owned by them, http://www.hubspot.com/internet-marketing-company/press-room.

1. Strategic Analysis of
Hubspot Inc.
Marie Howell

2. Agenda
 Introduction to Hubspot Inc.
 External Environment
 Internal Environment
 Strategic Leadership
 Resource Based View of Hubspot
 Analysis & Strategic Issues
 The Future for Hubspot

3. Who is Hubspot Inc.?
 Founded by 2 MIT graduates in 2007
 Strategic Capability via resources & core competencies (Resource Based
View):
 Skills
 Leadership
 Experience
 Contacts
 Blue Ocean Strategy: Inbound Marketing Company
 Specific Niche Market: VSB - SME
 $100 million in investment 2007-2012
 Acquisition strategy
 Looking to IPO potentially in 2013
Hamel & Pralahad, 1985; Kim & Mauborgne, 2005

4. The Hubspot Product
 User friendly CMS on Hubspot’s cloud hosting
 Built-in templates
 Responsive web design
 Basic SEO
 Landing page optimisation A/B testing
 Content Marketing
 SMM
 Blogging
 Granular Analytics
 Lead Generation & Lead Management
 CRM & Marketing automation

5. Environment Analyses

7. Internal Environment

8. VRIO / Value Chain Analysis
Barney (2010), Porter (1979)

9. Building Blocks for
Competitive Advantage
Porter & Siggelow, 2008

10. Strategic Leadership
Approach
 Strong Management team that creates value for the company:
 Halligan CEO: Shah, CTO
 VC (Tech) funder Larry Bohn; Software CEO Michael Simon; CFO David Stack
 Advisory Board:
 Marketing
 Technology
 Finance / Funding
 Leveraging core competencies to create competitive advantage (RBV)
 New Markets: UK & Europe
 Acquiring new resources / talent via:
 Purchase (Chime, PrepWork)
 Aggressive HR strategy for knowledge workers
 Employee retention strategy
 Strategic alliances (Salesforce.com; PRNewswire.com)
Hamel & Pralahad, 1985; Drucker, 1990; Bennigson & Leonard, 2013

11. Strategic Leadership
Summary
 Shape decisions
 Deliver high value – company grown over 27,000%
2006-2011 (Deloitte, 2011)
 Inspiring & managing staff
 Engaging with & retaining quality advisors
Lynch, 2012

12. Resource Based View of
Hubspot
It could be argued that Hubspot has worked to create
‘distinctiveness of capabilities’
1. Halligan & Shah worked to develop their skillsets
 Technical
 Business (MBA & work)
 Investment
2. Created proposition based on resources & skills (RBV)
3. Leveraged those skills to solicit VC funding
4. Identified weaknesses & addressed these
5. Acquired additional skills through purchase
6. Brought on board an advisory team to ‘round out’ the company
Johnson et al, 2009

13. Hubspot: Resource Based
Model
Strategy: Lead generation via content marketing plus continuing, excellent CRM;
Acquisition of talent & technology; continuing rounds of VC funding; Regularly
updated, affordable, scalable software. New Markets.
Effective management Talented CEO / CTO
Brought Additional Experience on board
Advisory Board
Resources: VC funding - $100 million
Capabilities: Talent; IP
Operations:
Effective lead generation & sales funnel
Products:
Targeted product to VSB / SME’s
Sanchez, 2003
Product Markets:
VSB; SME; Agencies
Competitors:
CMS, CRM: Ez, Pardot, Salesforce
ResourceMarkets:
Talent
Data &
Revenue:
Lead Generation
Competition
$100 million

14. Analysis & Strategic Issues
 Replicable, but with a first-to-market advantage
 Competitive advantage: unsustainable?
 Cost of substitution is high, but is inevitable if the
clients go from VSB to MLE
 Low cost lead strategy: better than salesforce.com
 New Market strategy: UK & EU. However, managing
growth, maintaining quality could be an issue.
 Multilingual?

15. Future for Hubspot?
 Social: addressed trends in 2005/7 – do they now need a
significant evolution?
 Organisational:
 New Markets: Dubspot (Hubspot, Dublin) office with same
culture, recruiting local personnel and targeting the local market
 Advisory Board geared up for development of company
 Cognitive: continue recruitment, IP & talent acquisition
strategies
 IPO

16. Summary
 Blue Ocean strategy
 Company has:
 core competencies
 first-to-market competitive advantage:
 Strategic leadership;
 Excellent contacts;
 Knowledge & experience
 Future: New Market strategy
 Leadership is focused on exit strategy: IPO

17. References
 Barney, J. B., & Hesterly, W., 2010. Strategic Management and Competitive Advantage. Pearson: New
Jersey.
 Drucker, P., 2002. They’re not employees, they’re people. Harvard Business Review. 80 (2), 70-77
 Mintzberg, H., 1994. The fall and rise of strategic planning. Harvard Business Review 72 (1), 107-114.
Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost [Accessed May 10, 2013].
 Hamel, G., & Pralahad, C. K., 2005. Best of HBR-- Strategic intent. Market Leader, (30), 64-65.
 Johnson, G., Whittington, R. & Scholes, K., 2009. Fundamentals of strategy. Pearson: Harlow.
 Kim, W., & Mauborgne, R. 2005. Blue ocean strategy : how to create uncontested market space and
make the competition irrelevant. Boston, Mass. : Harvard Business School, 2005.
 Lynch, R. 2010. Strategic Management. 6th ed. Pearson: Harlow.
 Porter, M., 1979. How competitive forces shape strategy. Harvard Business Review 57 (2), 137–145.
 Porter, M., 2001. Strategy and the Internet. Harvard Business Review, 79(3), 62-78.

18. Appendix