Management Question

HBR’s fictionalized case studies present problems
faced by leaders in real companies and offer solutions
from experts. This one is based on the Ivey case study
“Schiit Audio: Does It Make Sense to Sell on Amazon?”
(HBR product no. W20914-PDF-ENG), by Michael A.
Stanko and Jeffrey Pollack, which is available at HBR.org.

Should My
Side Hustle
Become My
Main Gig?
by Michael A. Stanko,
Jeffrey M. Pollack, and
Alexander Staub

Illustrations by JORI BOLTON

EVA N HALE GL ANCE D at the clock on

his phone: 15 minutes until his performance review. He sat at his cluttered
desk, littered with diagrams and design
notes, feeling the pressure of his divided
attention. He had meant to prepare a list
of accomplishments from the past year
at Vitalisync, a Minneapolis-based firm
specializing in precision components
for the medical device industry, but his
mind had been consumed all morning
by his side hustle, Fritch Audio.
Seven years ago, he had cofounded
the audio component company with
his best friend, Drew Larson. Fritch had

recently been plagued with stockouts
and fulfillment delays, and a recent
shipment of scratched chassis from a
supplier had compounded the problem.
The past 48 hours had been a blur of
frantic calls and emails to alternate suppliers, absorbing too much of his time:
Not only had he failed to prepare for his
annual review, he’d also fallen behind
on a key project.
His boss, Rachel Anders, appeared at
his cubicle, her presence a familiar mix
of authority and mentorship. Evan had
always appreciated her pragmatic management and the subtle ways she had

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141

championed his growth at Vitalisync.
He had never hidden his side hustle
from her, and she had never pretended
not to notice. Working for Rachel was
the best part of his “day job.”
Evan followed her to her office. “This
is a big day for both of us,” she began,
smiling as they took their seats. “You’ve
had some amazing successes recently,
and your past few projects in particular
have caught management’s attention.”
He felt a swell of pride but also a
pang of guilt as he thought about his
current unfinished assignment. Rachel
continued, “So I’m pleased to inform
you that we’d like to promote you to lead
project engineer.”
Evan blinked—the news caught him
completely off guard. Moving into that
role had always been part of his professional development plan with Rachel,
but he’d assumed it would happen later,
certainly not this year. He knew the
promotion came with a substantial pay
bump, stock options, more strategic
responsibilities, and the chance to work
on high-visibility projects that could
define Vitalisync’s future.
Rachel leaned back in her chair. “I
hope you’ll accept, but before you do,
I want you to have a real think about
Fritch Audio. I understand how passionate you are about it, but this role
will come with tighter deadlines, more
travel, more oversight responsibility,
and occasional late-night meetings.
Spontaneous time off to handle issues
with your side business won’t be as easy.

142

Harvard Business Review
March–April 2025

The choice is yours, but as your manager and your friend, I worry that you’ll
be spread too thin if you try to do both.”
“I understand,” Evan said, composing himself. “I’m thrilled about this
opportunity. But given the extra travel
and work hours, I’d like to talk to my
wife before I formally accept.”
“Of course,” Rachel replied.
As he stood up to leave, Evan’s stomach turned. He had planned to ask for
a few hours off that afternoon to deal
with the chassis issue, but the timing
was now awkward. For the first time, he
decided to lie to Rachel.
“Actually, I was hoping to leave early
today to go with Lily to an appointment,”
he said, forcing a casual tone. His wife
had Crohn’s disease, and Rachel had
always supported his use of flextime to
be a supportive husband.

“Sure thing,” she said, though Evan
thought he detected a faint look of disappointment. “I hope everything is OK.”
Evan nodded, emotions washing
over him. Creeping into the mix of pride
and guilt was the fear of being forced
into a decision he wasn’t quite ready to
make. When he returned to his cubicle,
he saw that he had a missed call and
a text from Drew. “Are you available
tomorrow evening? I’ve got an interesting guy who wants to talk about
investing in the business. Could be
huge.” Reading it, Evan shook his head
in disbelief at the timing.

A MILLION-DOLLAR OFFER
The Sound Lounge, a dimly lit enclave
tucked into downtown Minneapolis,
exuded an air of curated intimacy as

“Opportunities like this don’t come around too often. I guess it’s a question
of whether you want to build a real company or just play at it.”
Evan and Drew sank into one of its listening booths. The bar offered patrons a
rare indulgence: the chance to slip on
a pair of luxury headphones and lose
themselves in music. Fritch Audio had
outfitted the venue with its finest gear
when it first opened; in exchange, the
founders got a VIP booth and liberal
pours of whiskey whenever they visited.
Evan had sketched out his promotion
offer when they’d arrived but had asked
Drew to give him some time to process
the news on his own. Now their heads
were nodding to Pink Floyd’s “Time”
through the Focal Utopia headphones
that ran through Fritch Audio’s digitalto-analog converter. They often chose
the song for its layered textures and shifting dynamics—the perfect vehicle, they
felt, to showcase their equipment.
Evan glanced at Drew, who was lost
in the song, eyes closed and a smile
on his face. His friend and partner
lived and breathed music, spending
his spare time restoring vintage audio
equipment and hunting for rare vinyl.
Together, they had grown Fritch from
a passion project into a $5 million venture, beloved by audiophiles around
the world. Yet despite the impressive
revenue, the profits were slim, and the
company didn’t seem to be gaining any
more traction.
Both men jumped as the 230-pound
frame of Phil Warner plonked down in
the booth across from them, disrupting
their musical reverie. “There they are!”
Phil said loudly, his voice booming over
the quiet hum of the bar. “The maestros
themselves! I’ve been dying to meet
with you guys.”
“Evan, this is Phil,” Drew said. “As
I told you, he’s a real estate developer

who heard about us from his daughter,
who’s a Fritch customer.”
“Yep,” Phil said. “I looked at my
credit card bill and saw how much she
was spending on your equipment and
thought, It would be cheaper for me just
to buy the company!”
Evan and Drew exchanged a glance
as Phil laughed heartily and then leaned
forward. “Let me cut to the chase. I’ve
done a lot of research on you guys and
your competitors, and I’ve looked over
the business plan, marketing docs, and
financials that Drew forwarded. I like
what I see. I’d like to make a $1 million
investment in Fritch Audio. All I ask is
that we set out a strategy together to
grow Fritch to $15 million in revenue
and double the margins. Well, that and
a 15% stake in the company!”
Evan laughed awkwardly as Drew
pulled the headphones from around
his neck. “There’s a world out there
that hasn’t even heard your name,” Phil
continued, his voice lowering as if he
were sharing a secret. “We can take this
global, reach new ears, without losing
the edge that makes you the best.”
His excitement building, he continued. “I think you guys could have the
most powerful soundstage in the world,”
he said, misusing a term he’d clearly
picked up secondhand. Evan caught
Drew’s eye again, and a subtle grin flickered between them.
Phil paused mid-sentence, reading
the room with a salesman’s instinct. He
chuckled, raising his hands in mock surrender. “Alright, alright. I’ll stick to what
I know. You keep making the magic; I’ll
help turn this into a serious business.”
Evan’s thoughts reeled, the offer triggering a now-familiar mix of pride and

dread. “I’m honored, Phil. Truly. But the
timing…I’ve just been offered a promotion at my day job.”
“I get it,” Phil said. “Stability, loyalty—
that’s important. But I envision great
things for Fritch. Opportunities like
this don’t come around too often.” He
paused to let the message land. “I guess
it’s a question of whether you want to
build a real company or just play at it.”
The hum of the bar seemed to grow
louder. Drew’s eyes shone with encouragement and urgency, a silent reminder
of everything they’d built and what
could come next. Evan looked down,
feeling the pull of two opposing futures.

TURNING UP THE VOLUME
“Oh, honey, that’s fantastic!”
Evan looked across the kitchen table
at his wife, whose genuine excitement
was breaking through the exhaustion
that always marked their late-night
“board meetings” after their twin toddlers were finally asleep.
“Yesterday you tell me you’re getting
a promotion. Today you’ve been offered a
million-dollar investment. I can’t wait
until tomorrow!” Lily said with a playful
grin. “But wait,” she continued, her
expression changing. “How would you
do both?”
“That’s just it. I don’t think I could.
It would have to be one or the other.”
Lily looked searchingly at him.
“Evan,” she finally said, “I know how
much Fritch means to you, but we have
to think carefully about our financial
future.”
Six years ago, she stopped work as
an orthodontist to focus on her health
and then on raising the kids. At the

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143

time, she carried around $500,000 in
student debt, and though Evan had
thrown his bonus at the principal each
year, they still faced a $4,000 bill each
month. They both worried that they’d
be paying it right up until the twins’
college fees were due.
“Vitalisync is offering you more
money,” Lily continued, “and a stable
career. Fritch, even with this investor

interest, still feels like a risk. Weren’t
you just worrying about the chassis?
What if there are deeper problems in
the supply chain?”
“I think we just need to find a new
supplier,” Evan countered.
“Maybe,” Lily said, “but you know
that other problems will just pop up.”
She wrapped her arms around
her stomach and hunched over—a
familiar posture from the early days
of their courtship before she’d been
diagnosed with Crohn’s and put on
medication to keep the condition in
remission; she still had occasional

Should Evan
leave his job to focus
on his startup?
THE EXPERTS RESPOND.
Evan should
remain in his
current job unless
he can renegotiate
the terms of the
deal on the table
from Phil.
GABRIEL GONZALEZ ORTA

is a cofounder of Casalú,
a rum-based-seltzer maker.

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Harvard Business Review
March–April 2025

Full conviction is essential. In my
own career, I ran my startup as
a side hustle, but as soon as
I secured funding, I eagerly made
the transition. Most entrepreneurs are actively seeking an

flare-ups, particularly during periods
of stress.
Seemingly reading her husband’s
thoughts, she added, “And if you go fulltime as an entrepreneur, what happens
to our health insurance? Maybe I should
go back to work.”
Evan shook his head; having Lily
take a career break to be at home with
the kids was one of their shared goals
from the start of their relationship. His
phone buzzed before he could answer
her question. It was a text from Drew.
“Fritch has never been a side hustle
for me. It’s my dream. We don’t need

opportunity to pursue their venture
full-time and would jump at Phil’s
offer. But I see too much hesitation from Evan.
When I made the leap, I didn’t
have children, and I wasn’t
earning a substantial salary, so
the modest salary I drew from our
capital raise didn’t feel like a significant step down. Evan has more
responsibilities, so I understand
his reluctance to embrace Phil’s
deal. But that doesn’t mean that he
should just reject it. Instead,
he should explore alternative
solutions.
For instance, Evan could tell
Drew and Phil that he’d like to
earn the same salary at Fritch that
he’s been making at Vitalisync
and would accept less equity in
return. Or he could float the idea
of staying at his current job while
Drew takes on the bulk of the
responsibility at Fritch, again for
lower pay or a smaller stake in the
company. Drew and Evan should
also consider asking Phil for a bigger investment to ensure that they
can cover healthcare costs for the

two founders and future employees. The first offer was $1 million,
but Phil might be willing to go up to
$1.2 million or even higher.
The worst idea would be to
continue to bootstrap and pursue
organic growth. Fritch has been
in business for seven years, and
it’s unlikely to suddenly scale on
its current trajectory. Phil may
come across as a rube, but Evan
and Drew need a new partner with
capital, different expertise, and
fresh ideas.
Now is the time for Evan to
have an honest conversation with
his partner and their potential
investor. It might feel awkward,
but transparency builds trust and
leads to collective success. If he
proceeds with a deal that he isn’t
comfortable with and then tries
to change the terms later, it might
end his friendship with Drew and
destroy the business.
Fortunately, Evan is in a strong
negotiating position. If Drew and
Phil can’t or won’t accommodate
him, he can stay at Vitalisync and
retain his 50% equity in Fritch—or

“Asking for reduced hours could make upper management question my
commitment. And if they start to see Fritch as too big of a distraction…”
Phil—we can go the organic route if
that’s what you want. But at some point,
I hope we can do this full-time and turn
it into the business it deserves to be.”
Evan stared at the message, feeling
the pressure mount. He showed it to Lily.
“We’ve always said that Fritch is better than a trust fund for the kids,”
she reminded him. “A family business
they could take over if they wanted.
I just wish there was some guarantee
of success, because we need insurance
and a stable income.” She paused in
thought. “What if you declined the
promotion and shifted to a part-time

force them to buy him out at an inflated valuation, which would be a
bad deal for them. At the moment,
staying at Vitalisync is the best
option for Evan and his family.
But there is still room to try some
creative dealmaking before giving
up on his dream.

BRAD MINSLEY is the cofounder

of the 10 Federal Companies,
a self-storage real estate
company, and DaVinci Lock,
a maker of controlled-access
products.

or hybrid role? Or could you take a sabbatical and come back to the bigger job?”
“Rachel’s always been supportive,”
he said, “but asking for reduced hours
could make upper management
question my commitment. And if
they start to see Fritch as too big of a
distraction…”
His phone lit up again, this time
with a text from Phil. The message was
brief and direct: “Great to meet you,
Evan. Let me know your timeline on a
decision or further discussion. I’m ready
to get to work and hope you are, too.”
Evan couldn’t help but notice that it was

Evan should leave
Vitalisync to pursue
this opportunity.
He has the passion, and that’s
the key criterion for entrepreneurial success. You don’t need to be
a whiz kid or a natural salesperson—but you do have to love your
business because that’s the only
way you’ll be able to manage the
extreme workload and pressure that come with scaling a
company.
That said, Evan has to secure
his wife’s support before he
pro­ceeds. Too often in these
situations I see resentment build
between couples. When Evan is
80, he will care far more about his
family than his career, so he and
Lily need to be and stay on the
same page. It’s possible that the
investor money could cover a
small salary and healthcare
coverage for him and Drew,
allaying her concerns on that

after 11 pm. Rachel never tried to contact him this late.
He stood up from the table and
grabbed his wife’s hand. “Let’s go to
bed,” he said. “We can talk more in the
morning.”

MICHAEL A. STANKO is a professor
at the Poole College of Management
at North Carolina State University. JEFFREY
M. POLLACK is the Lynn T. Clark II
Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship
at the Poole College of Management.
ALEXANDER STAUB is a senior researcher
at HEC Lausanne.

front. Evan can also remind her
that he’s a stellar engineer with an
impressive CV and would have no
problem landing a good job if the
venture fails.
The next step is to decide
whether Phil is the right investor
to help Evan make the leap. My
intuition tells me he might not
be the best fit. There’s no harm
in spending the next two weeks
exploring other funding options.
Evan feels pressure to make a
decision immediately, but from
the outside, I see the deadlines
as artificial. Vitalisync is likely
to grant him additional time to
consider the promotion if he asks
for it; he’s a valued employee. And
if Phil is genuinely excited about
the company, he’ll also be willing
to wait.
In all of this, Evan should
work closely with Drew. My brother
and I shifted our side hustle into
a full-time business, so I know
from experience that trust and
generosity in such partnerships
are crucial. As friends and co­
founders, Evan and Drew are

entering the most challenging
phase of their business—growing from a small startup, where
they manage everything, to a
medium-size business, where
it becomes difficult to maintain
hands-on control. This period
often feels chaotic because the
company may not yet be able to attract or afford the best people, and
it most likely lacks well-defined
systems and necessary redundancies. Many ventures struggle at
this stage and may even contract
to a smaller size.
But if Fritch can successfully
scale up, Evan and Drew will find
that it becomes easier to hire
skilled people for various key roles
in the business—and that it’s astonishingly fun to see a team do a
better job than you could yourself.
That’s what this duo should be
aiming for. With the right support
and strategic decisions, they can
achieve their dreams and build a
successful business.
HBR Reprint R2502N
Reprint Case only R2502X
Reprint Commentary only R2502Z

Harvard Business Review
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‫المملكة العربية السعودية‬
‫وزارة التعليم‬
‫الجامعة السعودية اإللكترونية‬

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Ministry of Education
Saudi Electronic University

College of Administrative and Financial Sciences

Assignment 2
Decision Making and Problem Solving (MGT 312)
Due Date: End of Week 09, 01/11/2025 @ 23:59
Course Name: Decision Making and Problem Student’s Name:
Solving
Course Code: MGT312
Student’s ID Number:
Semester: First

CRN:
Academic Year:2025-26; FIRST SEMESTER

For Instructor’s Use only
Instructor’s Name:
Students’ Grade:
/ 10

Level of Marks: High/Middle/Low

General Instructions – PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

The Assignment must be submitted on Blackboard (WORD format only) via allocated
folder.
Assignments submitted through email will not be accepted.
Students are advised to make their work clear and well presented; marks may be reduced
for poor presentation. This includes filling your information on the cover page.
Students must mention question number clearly in their answer.
Late submission will NOT be accepted.
Avoid plagiarism, the work should be in your own words, copying from students or other
resources without proper referencing will result in ZERO marks. No exceptions.
All answered must be typed using Times New Roman (size 12, double-spaced) font. No
pictures containing text will be accepted and will be considered plagiarism).
Submissions without this cover page will NOT be accepted.

Learning Outcomes:
1. Describe decision making process for complex issues pertaining to business
environment both internally and externally. (C.L.O :1.1)
2. Demonstrate decision tools and employ appropriate analytical business models to
break down complex issues. (C.L.O :2.2)
3. Explain and apply critical thinking and cognitive psychology as it pertains to
analyze and synthesize information for problem solving and decision making.
(C.L.O :2.1)
• Log in to Saudi Digital Library (SDL) via University’s website
• On first page of SDL, choose “English Databases”
• From the list find and click on EBSCO database.
• In the search bar of EBSCO find the following article:
Title:
“Case Study: Should My Side Hustle Become My Main Gig?
Author:
Stanko, Michael A.;Pollack, Jeffrey M.;Staub, Alexander
Date of Publication:
Mar/April2025
Published:
Harvard Business Review

Assignment Question(s):
Read the case study titled as “Case Study: Should My Side Hustle Become My Main
Gig?” by Stanko, Michael A.;Pollack, Jeffrey M.;Staub, Alexander published in Harvard
Business Review, and answer the following Questions:
Q1: Writ the problem statement which should include the followings: [Marks 3]
•

The clear concise description and summary of the problem

•

Scope of the problem,

•

Consequences of the problem,

•

The methods for resolving the problem in the above case?

Q2: Apply Cause-and-Effect Diagram for the problems given in the case study and
identify the real cause of the problem.

[1.5 Marks]

Q3: Develop a mind map for the problems given in the case study.

[1.5 Marks]

Q4. Should Evan leave his job to focus on his startup? Suggest Evan as consultant
with argument, reasoning, evidence, and conclusion?

[2 Marks]

Q5: Make a decision and write the conclusion.

[2 Marks]

Answers
1. Answer2. Answer3. Answer4. Answer5. Answer-

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