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How Venture Capital Works
Finance & Accounting Magazine ArticleIn this article, Bob Zider, president of the Beta Group, a California-based firm that invests in commercializing new technologies, presents an analysis... -
Strategic Secret of Private Equity
Finance & Accounting Magazine ArticleThe huge sums that private equity firms make on their investments evoke admiration and envy. Typically, these returns are attributed to the firms' aggressive... -
How Venture Capitalists Make Decisions
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Magazine ArticleFor decades now, venture capitalists have played a crucial role in the economy by financing high-growth start-ups. While the companies they've backed--Amazon,... -
Why Start-ups Fail
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Magazine ArticleIf you're launching a business, the odds are against you: Two-thirds of start-ups never show a positive return. Unnerved by that statistic, a professor... -
Everything You (Don’t) Want to Know About Raising Capital
Financial markets Magazine ArticleMost entrepreneurs understand that if the fundamentals of a business idea—the management team, the market opportunities, the operating systems and controls—are sound, chances are there’s money out there. The challenge of landing that capital to grow a company can be exhilarating. But as exciting as the money search may be, it is equally threatening. Built […] -
SPACs: What You Need to Know
Entrepreneurship Magazine ArticleA guide for the curious and the perplexed -
What African Fintech Startups Can Teach Silicon Valley About Longevity
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleThree lessons, based on a study of more than 200 senior-level executives. -
Entrepreneurs, Is a Venture Studio Right for You?
Entrepreneurship Digital ArticleFounders often look to incubators and accelerators to grow their startups. But there’s another option. -
Do Algorithms Make Better — and Fairer — Investments Than Angel Investors?
Algorithms Digital ArticleIt depends on the investor. -
Managing Shareholders in the Age of Stakeholder Capitalism
Finance & Accounting Digital ArticleHow to identify and attract investors who will support your long-term, stakeholder-focused plans. -
Two Ways to Hold Entrepreneurs Accountable
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleCorporate CFO's and venture capitalists have a common problem. They give teams large amounts of money and other resources in the hopes of creating a new... -
Corporate Venturing
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Magazine ArticleFor decades, large companies have been wary of corporate venturing. But as R&D organizations face pressure to rein in costs and produce results, companies... -
Give Impact Investing Time and Space to Develop
Organizational Development Digital ArticleRealizing the full potential of this evolving sector requires three things. -
Bringing Silicon Valley Inside
Finance and investing Magazine ArticleIn Silicon Valley, exciting new business ideas rapidly attract capital and talent away from less worthy ventures. But in big companies, ideas, capital, and talent are stagnant—prisoners of traditional bureaucratic ways of allocating resources. To capture the Valley’s entrepreneurial magic, your company needs to move from resource allocation to resource attraction. -
Good Money After Bad? (Commentary for HBR Case Study)
Strategy & Execution Magazine ArticleChristian Harbinson, a young associate at the venture capital firm Scharfstein Weekes, has a difficult decision to make before the next investment committee... -
Six Myths About Venture Capitalists
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Magazine ArticleAs the director of private equity for the Kauffman Foundation and a former venture capitalist, Mulcahy has observed the industry closely. In 2012 she... -
The President of SRI Ventures on Bringing Siri to Life
Disruptive innovation Magazine ArticleBefore it could become part of every iPhone, the “virtual personal assistant” had to cross innovation’s valley of death. -
How the Geography of Startups and Innovation Is Changing
Business and society Digital ArticleIt’s more global, more urban, and more winner-take-all. -
You Can Negotiate with Venture Capitalists
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Magazine ArticleBusiness owners who have found venture capitalists (VCs) willing to put money into their companies may be tempted to take the money on any terms. Because... -
When Do Consumers Prefer Crowdfunded Products?
Entrepreneurial financing Digital ArticleOne study found that people were willing to pay about 21% more for a product when they were told it was crowdfunded.
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Founder-CEO Succession at Wily Technology
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95View Details Before he accepts the new CEO position, Dick Williams wants founder Lew Cirne to step down as chairman. While considering Williams' incredible demand,... -
PunchTab, Inc.
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study8.95View Details PunchTab was a Silicon Valley startup founded in 2011 that was developing an Internet-based turnkey customer loyalty program for website owners, mobile... -
Chengwei Ventures and the hdt Investment
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study8.95View Details Bo Feng, cofounder and principal in Chengwei Ventures, one of the first sovereign venture capital firms in China, is trying to decide on the proper business... -
Frank Addante, Serial Entrepreneur
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study8.95View Details Frank Addante is a 28-year-old serial entrepreneur who is in the process of building his fifth venture. Of his first four ventures, two were sold, one... -
Francisco Partners
Finance & Accounting Case Study6.95View Details Francisco Partners (which focuses on buyouts of high-technology firms) aims to be the largest first-time fund ever raised. The rationales for the fund,... -
ChatChat (VC Version)
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95View Details This is a role-play case, intended for use in a leadership development course for MBA students. The case has four roles: two for students playing the... -
Sociable Labs B
Sales & Marketing Case Study5.00View Details Sociable Labs was conceived as a start-up business attempting to use friend recommendations to curate and recommend purchase opportunities on the internet.... -
Environmental Defense Fund and the Leveraged Buyout of TXU
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95View Details In 2006, the regional director for Texas' Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) was on his way to a hearing about permits for new coal plants proposed by Texas... -
Merak Capital: Investing in the Future of the Middle East
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details The Merak Capital cofounders sought to tap into the opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, as the technology community... -
Rospil.info
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95View Details What should business leaders do about corruption? In December 2011, four HBS alumni met to debate how to engage the unprecedented protests against Vladimir... -
Yale University Investments Office: June 2003
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details The Yale Investments Office must decide whether to continue to allocate the bulk of the university's endowment to illiquid investments--hedge funds, private... -
Gobi Partners: October 2004
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study8.95View Details The general partners of Gobi Partners, a venture fund located in Shanghai, are trying to decide the best way to raise money for their first fund. Their... -
GO Corp.
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details GO faces a crisis in March 1991 when Microsoft announces the introduction of a competing operating system for pen-based computers. GO's managers must... -
Accelerating Russia: The Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF)
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF) is a venture capital (VC) fund plus start-up accelerator launched in 2013 by Russia's Agency for Strategic... -
ARCH Venture Partners: November 1993
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details ARCH Venture Partners has successfully managed a venture fund and technology transfer organization for the University of Chicago for the past five years.... -
Eastwind Trading Co. (A)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study8.95View Details Two professional women are contemplating a business venture. They must assess the nature of the opportunity, what options it opens if they are to pursue... -
"Doctor My Eyes"--The Acquisition of Bausch & Lomb by Warburg Pincus (A)
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details In early 2010, senior partners at Warburg Pincus met to review a report on Bausch & Lomb Incorporated, the firm's largest investment at the time. Warburg... -
Chrysler and BMW: Tritec Engine Joint Venture
Technology & Operations Case Study6.95View Details A gifted project leader lacks significant new product development experience. The case highlights the issues and procedures related to defining the project... -
CashDrop (A)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study8.95View Details In July 2020, Ruben Flores-Martinez had launched a startup, CashDrop, which provided easy and cheap sales options for small businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic... -
Broadway Angels (2022)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study5.00View Details In late June of 2022, Sonja Perkins, co-founder of Broadway Angels, contemplated the group's future. She and her co-founders, Jennifer Fonstad, and Magdalena...
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How Venture Capital Works
Finance & Accounting Magazine ArticleIn this article, Bob Zider, president of the Beta Group, a California-based firm that invests in commercializing new technologies, presents an analysis... -
Strategic Secret of Private Equity
Finance & Accounting Magazine ArticleThe huge sums that private equity firms make on their investments evoke admiration and envy. Typically, these returns are attributed to the firms' aggressive... -
How Venture Capitalists Make Decisions
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Magazine ArticleFor decades now, venture capitalists have played a crucial role in the economy by financing high-growth start-ups. While the companies they've backed--Amazon,... -
Why Start-ups Fail
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Magazine ArticleIf you're launching a business, the odds are against you: Two-thirds of start-ups never show a positive return. Unnerved by that statistic, a professor... -
Everything You (Don’t) Want to Know About Raising Capital
Financial markets Magazine ArticleMost entrepreneurs understand that if the fundamentals of a business idea—the management team, the market opportunities, the operating systems and controls—are sound, chances are there’s money out there. The challenge of landing that capital to grow a company can be exhilarating. But as exciting as the money search may be, it is equally threatening. Built […] -
SPACs: What You Need to Know
Entrepreneurship Magazine ArticleA guide for the curious and the perplexed -
What African Fintech Startups Can Teach Silicon Valley About Longevity
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleThree lessons, based on a study of more than 200 senior-level executives. -
Entrepreneurs, Is a Venture Studio Right for You?
Entrepreneurship Digital ArticleFounders often look to incubators and accelerators to grow their startups. But there’s another option. -
Founder-CEO Succession at Wily Technology
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95View Details Before he accepts the new CEO position, Dick Williams wants founder Lew Cirne to step down as chairman. While considering Williams' incredible demand,... -
PunchTab, Inc.
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study8.95View Details PunchTab was a Silicon Valley startup founded in 2011 that was developing an Internet-based turnkey customer loyalty program for website owners, mobile...