Harvard Graduate Sees her Startup Company’s Stock Soar: MBA News

By QS Contributor Updated Jun 15, 2014

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Introduction
Harvard graduate ‘addressing family needs’ with Care.com

Harvard Graduate Sees her Startup Company’s Stock Soar: MBA News main image

Sheila Lirio Marcelo, an MBA and JD Harvard graduate took the startup company she founded in 2006 onto the New York Stock Exchange and saw its share price rise by 43% on its first day of trading last Friday.

In so doing, her startup company, Care.com, became the best performing stock market launch (IPO - initial public offering) of the year thus far, surpassing seven other launches over the course of January.

Care.com is an online marketplace sourcing personal care services from childcare to senior care to household services, and already boasts over five million registered consumers (including one million paying subscribers) and four million caregivers. It was built on venture capital funding to the tune of US$111 million and the public sale looks to have now brought in US$91 million, which Marcelo says will go towards growing her startup company’s audience and buying out competitors.

Harvard graduate ‘addressing family needs’ with Care.com

Marcelo is said to have come up with the idea for her startup company through personal experience, when she found it difficult finding quality childcare when attending college as a young mother.

“We are really addressing a very important need for families,” Marcelo told the Boston Globe.

However, the Harvard graduate was somehow able to combine her MBA/JD studies with 30 hours of community activity each week.

Before forming Care.com, the Harvard graduate held senior positions at Monitor Company, Upromise and The Ladders among others. She has also served as a teaching fellow at her alma mater, Harvard Business School.

Marcelo's success has seen her named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (2010) for New England and one of The Boston Globe's 100 Innovators of 2013. In addition, the Harvard graduate retains her interest in community and non-profit work, with Marcelo a member of the board of trustees for the Philippine Development Foundation and recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

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