Publications

September 2016 (Revised March 2020)
Teaching Note

Fasten: Challenging Uber and Lyft with a New Business Model

By: Feng Zhu

Fasten, a new ridesharing start-up in Boston, entered the scene in September 2015 hoping its unique vision of transparency for both driver and passenger and strategy to keep riders' fares low and charge drivers a flat $0.99 fee per ride, as opposed to the 20%–30%... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Transportation; Business Startups; Business Model; Transportation Industry; Boston

October 2006 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Warner Music Group

TH Lee, a leading private equity firm, needs to decide whether to commit to the acquisition of AOL Time Warner's music group, and whether to commit the entire amount needed, $1.4 billion. The music industry has suffered greatly in recent years, largely as a result of... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Music Entertainment; Private Equity; Investment; Music Industry

21 Feb 2024
Blog Post

Hiring at HBS: How Summer Interns Make an Impact at Bridges Fund Management

Turner MIINT, Bridges Fund Management also participates in the Impact Investing Trek. Organized by student clubs, treks provide HBS students an opportunity to visit companies around the world as they explore View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital / Private Equity

March 1988 (Revised July 1990)
Case

Walt Disney Productions: Greenmail

Considers a firm whose investment strategies have essentially run out. Walt Disney's original visions and goals have all been fulfilled and after his death no new ones are forthcoming. Disney faces repeated takeover attacks and is forced to either set new corporate... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Crisis Management; Acquisition; Financial Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

Web

Lehman Brothers Timeline | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

Introduction 1840s – 1880s General Merchants to Commodities Brokers 1880s – 1920s Investment Banking & Securities Underwriting 1920s – 1960s Investing in Emerging View Details

February 2003 (Revised March 2011)
Background Note

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Valuation and Distribution in Private Equity

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Introduces the issues attendant to valuing privately held portfolios and distributing thinly traded stock. Although they have existed since the beginning of the formal venture capital industry, they have received increasing amounts of attention as the money invested in... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Stocks; Investment Portfolio; Valuation; Financial Services Industry

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Where Main Street Meets Wall Street

But by 1992, assets had soared to $1.6 trillion, and by 1998, they had exploded to $5.5 trillion, a sum that surpasses the nation's bank deposits. As the industry flourished, more and more financial services... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons; Financial Services

21 Oct 2008
First Look

First Look: October 21, 2008

banking industry and Garanti Bank's position within it, and asks students to consider whether partnership makes sense for Garanti and, if so, which bidder it should select. Purchase this case:... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Mattermark

By: Jeffrey Bussgang and Annelena Lobb

Mattermark, a software-as-a-service company that sold software allowing companies to access financial information about privately-held companies and startups, was at a turning point. CEO Danielle Morrill had to allocate investment funding from a Series A round. She... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Marketing; Strategy; Technology Industry; United States

14 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 14

entertainment industry really works-and how to navigate today's high-stakes business world at large. Publisher's link: http://www.blockbusters-thebook.com/ 2006 Journal of Economic Perspectives The View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2008 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Sandhar Technologies Group, Ltd.

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Jayant Davar, CEO and founder of Sandhar Technologies Group, a privately held auto components maker in India, is trying to decide how best to grow the company. He recently took a $22 million investment from Actis Capital, a major emerging markets private equity firm,... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Business Growth and Maturation; Competitive Advantage; Entrepreneurship; Mergers and Acquisitions; Emerging Markets; Growth and Development Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; India

Find at Harvard

23 Nov 1999
Research & Ideas

The Future of the Venture Capital Cycle

with a rapid increase in capital commitments have led to less restrictive partnership agreements, large investments in portfolio firms, and higher valuations for those investments. These patterns have led many practitioners to conclude... View Details

Keywords: by Paul A. Gompers & Josh Lerner; Financial Services

April 2010 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Vale: Global Expansion in the Challenging World of Mining

By: Tarun Khanna, Aldo Musacchio and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

In 2009 the management of Vale, a Brazilian diversified mining company and the largest iron ore producer in the world, was under pressure from at least two fronts. First, the emergence of China as the most important consumer of iron ore in the last few years had... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Investment; Global Strategy; Risk Management; Market Entry and Exit; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy; Mining Industry; Brazil

September 2021 (Revised December 2023)
Case

On the Bubble: Startup Bootstrapping

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Tom Quinn and Annelena Lobb

Bubble was a software company in the low-code/no-code market, making tools that allowed users without traditional programming backgrounds or technical skills to build software. The case covers cofounder Joshua Haas’s engineering background, as he experienced a high... View Details

12 Mar 2013
First Look

First Look: March 12

management decisions, with consequences for aggregate economic activity. This article discusses the role of investment banking and investment management View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2021
Supplement

Aligning Mission and Margin at Southern Bancorp

By: Brian Trelstad

Video Supplement for HBS Case No. 321-099. In October 2020, after spending almost a decade to turnaround Southern Bancorp, an Arkansan bank founded with the mission to provide financial services to rural, underserved communities, CEO Darrin Williams is wondering how... View Details

Keywords: Racial Wealth Gap; Banks and Banking; Growth and Development; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Going Public; Investment Return; Social Issues; Wealth and Poverty; Banking Industry; Banking Industry; United States; Arkansas

April 1998 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Randy Komisar: Virtual CEO

Randy Komisar serves as "virtual CEO" to numerous hi-tech start-ups in Silicon Valley. Explores Randy's role, his perspective on general management, and a choice between two opportunities in which he is considering investing his time. View Details

Keywords: Technology; Business or Company Management; Leadership; Business Startups; Management Teams; Technology Industry; California

Find at Harvard

02 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

10 Trends to Watch in 2024

The lightning-fast ascent of generative AI isn’t the only sea change on the horizon for businesses in the new year. The global economy is in flux as war, climate change, trade issues, and infrastructure problems demand attention. Many companies continue to struggle to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

September 1994 (Revised April 1995)
Case

Banque Paribas: Paribas Derives Garantis

In March 1993, the management of Paribas Capital Markets is making a final review of the proposal to set up Paribas Derives Garantis (PDG), a special-purpose subsidiary of Compagnie Financiere de Paribas (CFP), that would guarantee derivative products offered by Banque... View Details

Keywords: Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Business Subsidiaries; Banks and Banking; Financial Services Industry