MooBella Case Study Essay

1. What categories of costs would you expect to see in a list of MooBella start-up costs? The categories of costs I would expect to see in a list of MooBella start-up costs are: – Owner’s salary – Employee wages and benefits – Computers, internet, telephone, and other technology – Promotion, advertising, web site hosting – Professional services – Insurance – Debt service – Taxes – Maintenance – Legal/accounting fees – Supplies 2. It took nearly 20 years from idea to market for MooBella. Clearly, it had a long development and start-up period. Reflect on the emotional and other nonmonetary factors that were likely involved for Bruce Ginsberg. MooBella was a seemingly simple concept that was technically complex and cost nearly $85 million in investment capital. Ginsberg was faced with many challenges with the research, development and start-up processes. The machines themselves were very costly, costing approximately $40,000 per machine, and it took 5 years to develop the computer portion alone. 3. What was the mix of funds used by MooBella to get started? Some of the start-up funding included: – Saturn Asset Management–$25 million in equity (2000-2005) – Inventages (Swiss venture firm)–$15 million in 2007 and $18 million in 2009 – Bruce Ginsberg–$1 million – W Health LP–$9 million (November 2010) – Debt–$17.5 million in high-interest loans and convertible notes 4. What are the start-up costs that you would expect to encounter if you were a company that purchased a MooBella machine? I would expect the cost of buying the machine itself, the supplies for the ice cream the machine dispenses, taxes, maintenance, if I buy multiple machines for different locations and hire people to refill and maintain them then employee wages, and debt if I cannot pay out of pocket.