PANGEA: Why Creativity Gets in the Way of Practicality?

Abstract

Pangea is an App that allows users to offer or request freelance jobs. The company, Pangea.app, was founded in 2016 by three American college students. Each co-founder has made his share of contributions to the start-up. However, as the young company grows, a rupture between the co-founders has emerged. Even though Jeremy came up with the initial idea for Pangea, he is also fully committed to another part-time job. Adam and John feel that his involvement does not match theirs and will be a problem if the company grows further. Adam and John believe that Jeremy, who holds a significant equity stake as well as high decision power but who is not doing much, needs to leave the company. They are conflicted on how to proceed without damaging their longstanding friendship with Jeremy.

This case was prepared for inclusion in Sage Business Cases primarily as a basis for classroom discussion or self-study, and is not meant to illustrate either effective or ineffective management styles. Nothing herein shall be deemed to be an endorsement of any kind. This case is for scholarly, educational, or personal use only within your university, and cannot be forwarded outside the university or used for other commercial purposes.

2024 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved

You are not authorized to view Teaching Notes. Please contact your librarian for instructor access or sign in to your existing instructor profile.

Resources

Exhibit 1. Pangea.app’s Organigram and Equity Split

Names of the members of the organization are within rectangular boxes. Above each rectangular box is another rectangular box with the percentage of equity split. Hierarchy in the image is listed below:

  • 25%; Jeremy Williams Co-founder and President
  • 25%; Adam Alpert Co-founder and CEO
    • 2.2%; Product and Operations manager
    • 2.2%; Marketing and Design manager
    • 2.2%; Product manager
    • 2.2%; User Success manager
  • 30%; John Tambunting Co-founder and CTO
    • 2.2%; Senior Software engineer
      • 2.2%; Software engineer
      • 2.2%; Software engineer
      • 2.2%; Software engineer
    • 2.2%; Ul/UX designer

Jeremy Williams, Adam Alpert, and John Tambunting are grouped and labeled as 80% of equity and remaining members are grouped and labeled as 20% of equity.

An image shows the organization structure within the Pangea start-up app and the percentage of equity distribution among employees.

This case was prepared for inclusion in Sage Business Cases primarily as a basis for classroom discussion or self-study, and is not meant to illustrate either effective or ineffective management styles. Nothing herein shall be deemed to be an endorsement of any kind. This case is for scholarly, educational, or personal use only within your university, and cannot be forwarded outside the university or used for other commercial purposes.

2024 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved

locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles