There are also additional sub-themes in the case series that make this a potentially discussion-rich case for classroom use: (1) How the different components of the 'Cluster of Innovation' ecosystem in the San Francisco Bay Area impacted Hanke's career, starting from the time when he first enrolled at Berkeley-Haas in Fall 1994 up to his current situation now (2) How Hanke successfully created several start-ups prior to Google acquiring his third one, Keyhole, an 3-D online mapping company, in 2004 and then rebranding it as Google Earth (3) How he was able to scale-up Google's Geo-products division over an eight-year period and within a large corporate setting by applying the concepts of 'lean start-up,' 'open sourcing,' and 'open innovation' that led to the eventual success of Google Maps and Google Street View (4) The importance of 'organizational alignment and fit' with Hanke managing the transition of his core team, through Keyhole's acquisition, success within Google with the Geo Division, and ultimate spin-out of Niantic and its emergence as an independent company when scale no longer offset the benefits of entrepreneurial stand-alone flexibility and (5) the importance of 'grasping the power of new technologies converging and impacting the consumer market.Niantic has announced Google Play as an official sponsor of the upcoming Pokemon Go Fest 2021, and Trainers playing on Android and Google phones will be able to take advantage of a few extra perks.

The case series primarily centers on Hanke's most recent venture - San Francisco-based Niantic Labs that develops augmented reality (AR) games for use on smart phones - and tells the storyline in three distinct cases: The (A) case explores whether Hanke should spin Niantic out of Google in 2015 the (B) case asks what strategic choices Niantic should undertake, immediately following the successful launch of its Pokémon Go game in Summer 2016 and the (C) case ponders how Niantic should further execute on its strategy of scaling up in 2019, especially with the advent of G5 technology.

This case series focuses on the entrepreneurial career of John Hanke, a 1996 MBA graduate of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley and a professional entrepreneur.

Niantic Labs and the Professional Entrepreneur in the Silicon Valley: Google, Pokémon Go, and Beyond

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