Case Overview
“It was a beautiful day in April 2022, with the air carrying the long-awaited arrival of spring. Iris Skrami walked out of a yoga class in Amsterdam, her mind drifting back to Renoon, the company she co-founded with several friends two years prior. Being CEO of the company, she had poured nearly all her time and energy into it the last two years...”
Renoon, a tech-driven platform, aims to improve transparency in sustainability claims within the fashion industry. The company initially operated as a B2B2C platform, helping users discover fashion aligned with their sustainability values. However, its commission-based revenue model proved unreliable, prompting students to explore alternative business models to enhance commercial viability while staying true to its sustainability mission.
The case challenges students to explore two potential solutions for Renoon:
- Becoming a media company producing sustainability-focused content.
- Transforming into a reseller directly selling fashion products to earn higher margins.
- Students are also encouraged to develop alternative business models using creative and innovative ideas.
A Unique Case
Developed in collaboration with Renoon co-founders Iris Skrami and Piero Puttini, the case integrates the company’s ethos of transparency with insights from marketing, sustainability, and platform innovation. The Renoon case offers a multifaceted and immersive learning experience, challenging students to grapple with the complexities of sustainable innovation in the fashion industry.
"The case centers on the challenges facing modern tech platforms. Even if the platform succeeds at the first challenge facing any business – identifying and creating sufficient customer value for the buyers and sellers interacting on their platform, there is no guarantee they can also navigate the second challenge - extracting sufficient value for the platform in return. The case challenges students to consider different ways tech platforms can create and extract value, leveraging the combined powers of business model adaptation, technological innovation and customer orientation in the exciting and fast-moving context of sustainable fashion." — Prof. Steven Sweldens, first author of the case.
The case includes rich supporting materials for instructors, such as audiovisual material, an extended teaching note, a PowerPoint deck, an example lecture, a pre-class survey, and a short video about the business solution ultimately adopted by the company.
You can access the teaching case and its full set of supporting materials here.
You can also Check out our other Multimedia Cases here.
Learning Objectives
Renoon’s story is a compelling study in balancing purpose and profitability. It underscores the importance of aligning business models with user behavior and finding scalable revenue streams early. As sustainability becomes central to industries worldwide, startups like Renoon will play a crucial role in shaping consumer habits.
The case highlights a key challenge for sustainability-focused marketers and entrepreneurs: creating value for consumers does not guarantee profitability while staying true to a mission.
By engaging with the case, students will:
- Understand how a firm's customer orientation impacts profitability.
- Explore monetization strategies for platforms, including balancing user growth and technology.
- Analyze consumer perceptions of sustainability and how to leverage them for value creation.
- Navigate the challenges of scaling a tech business with a sustainability focus.