Publications

Research Summary

The Venture Capitalist as Entrepreneur

Noam's dissertation, entitled The Venture Capitalist as Entrepreneur, won Harvards George S. Dively award for dissertation research. In the dissertation, Noam examined the organizational dynamics and characteristics within venture capital firms themselves, viewing... View Details

January 2000 (Revised November 2000)
Case

Lucent Technologies New Ventures Group

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Michelle Heskett

Lucent Technologies' successful New Ventures Group must present company executives with a strong case for continuing corporate venturing activities despite a troubled financial performance in difficult market conditions. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Management Teams; Business Ventures; Venture Capital; Financial Condition; Change Management; Wireless Technology; Financial Services Industry; Computer Industry; New Jersey

February 2012
Case

FirstMark Capital

By: Paul Gompers and J. Daniel Kim

Keywords: Venture Capital

September 2012 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Martin Smith: July 2012

By: Josh Lerner and Felda Hardymon

Martin Smith, a recently hired general partner at a Brazil-based venture capital firm, must decide among three deal opportunities. Each has different strengths (management, market, and technology) but each has its own weaknesses as well. He must also consider each deal... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Deal Choice; Venture Capital; Investments; Career Management; Management Teams; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cost vs Benefits; Personal Development and Career; Financial Services Industry; Brazil

February 2001 (Revised April 2001)
Case

CDC Capital Partners

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

In 2001, CDC Capital Partners is facing the greatest challenge in its 53-year history. Founded as part of the U.K. government's post-war colonial reconstruction, it had operated as a developmental finance institution, largely issuing debt to the world's poorest... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Private Equity; Emerging Markets; Cost vs Benefits; Mergers and Acquisitions; Partners and Partnerships; Financial Institutions; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom

2012
Book

Venture Capital, Private Equity, and the Financing of Entrepreneurship

By: Josh Lerner, Ann Leamon and Felda Hardymon

Venture Capital, Private Equity, and the Financing of Entrepreneurship stems from a realization that private equity overall—defined in this volume as venture capital and buyouts but excluding hedge funds—has become a vastly more sizable and influential part of the... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Entrepreneurship

2022
Working Paper

Transferable Skills? Founders as Venture Capitalists

By: Paul A. Gompers and Vladimir Mukharlyamov

In this paper we explore whether or not the experience as a founder of a venture capital-backed startup influences the performance of founders who become venture capitalists (VCs). We find that nearly 7% of VCs were previously founders of a venture-backed startup.... View Details

Keywords: Founders; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Performance; Personal Development and Career; Success

Read Now

April 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Adams Capital Management: March 1999

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Bill Wasik

On February 24, 1999, the advisory board of Adams Capital Management convened for its quarterly meeting at the firm's headquarters. One point on the agenda: whether or not to proceed with due diligence on an investment in Three Points, a maker of Internet-based team... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Systems; Investment; Goals and Objectives; Financial Services Industry

February 2002 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Chengwei Ventures and the hdt* Investment

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

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 model for hdt, the product of a merger between two portfolio companies. This case discusses the best way for the... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Relationship Management; Sovereign Finance; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Markets; Business Model; Financial Services Industry; China

September 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Case

AngelList

By: Ramana Nanda and Liz Kind

In early 2010, Naval Ravikant and Babak Nivi posted a list of angel investors on the Venture Hacks blog as a resource for founders looking for funding prior to seeking venture capital. The list quickly evolved into AngelList, a separate matchmaking platform for... View Details

Keywords: Angel Investors; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurial Finance; Finance; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Financial Services Industry; United States

June 1996
Case

Pathfinder Capital

By: William A. Sahlman and Andrew S. Janower

Two former consultants have raised a search fund and are looking for a company to buy and run. After eight months of looking at deals, they have just signed a letter of intent to buy the second largest book retail chain in Canada in a turnaround situation. They must... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Leveraged Buyouts; Financing and Loans; Venture Capital; Change; Decisions

September 2021
Teaching Note

CPE and SUS Environmental: You've Got to Know When to Hold 'Em (A) and (B)

By: Josh Lerner

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity

March 1997 (Revised January 1999)
Case

Cambridge Technology Partners: Corporate Venturing (August 1996)

By: Paul A. Gompers and Catherine M. Conneely

Concerns the decision of Jim Sims, president and CEO of Cambridge Technology Partners (CTP) to form a corporate venture capital subsidiary. CTP is a fast-growing information technology consulting firm that has been presented with many investment opportunities from... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Venture Capital; Leadership; Information Technology; Investment; Opportunities; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business Startups; Business Subsidiaries; Information Technology Industry; Consulting Industry; Cambridge

September 2021
Case

Brown Capital Management

By: Luis M. Viceira, Emily R. McComb and Sarah Mehta

Set in July 2021, this case looks at several growth strategies under consideration at Brown Capital, the second-oldest Black-owned asset management firm in the U.S. Since its 1983 founding, Baltimore-based Brown Capital has specialized in small company growth... View Details

January 2003 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Adams Capital Management: March 2002

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

In March 2002, the five partners of Adams Capital Management (ACM), a venture capital firm investing in information technology telecommunications with $700 million under management, gathered to discuss whether they should change their strategy in view of the prolonged... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Venture Capital; Investment Portfolio; Business or Company Management; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Financial Services Industry

May 2022
Case

Deborah Quazzo at GSV Ventures

By: William A. Sahlman, Michael D. Smith and Nicole Tempest Keller

As COVID-19 swept across the globe in 2020, the education sector faced unprecedented disruption. Schools and colleges worldwide shut down, forcing over a billion students and teachers to move to online learning. Investor interest in the EdTech space exploded as... View Details

Keywords: Edtech; Technology; Online Learning; COVID-19 Pandemic; Education; Information Technology; Venture Capital; Change Management; Strategy; Education Industry; Financial Services Industry; Chicago; California

May 2024
Supplement

Forest Park Capital (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

During the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020, Betsy Harbison formed the search fund Forest Park Capital with the intention of purchasing a small business. The case conveys the details of Betsy’s final decision at the terminus of her search, between a software company... View Details

Keywords: Search Fund; Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition; Acquisition; Small Business; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Business Education; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Tourism Industry; Web Services Industry; North America; Missouri

November 2018 (Revised January 2021)
Case

Peak Investment Capital

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Kobbina Awuah (MBA 2014) became intrigued with the possibility of adapting Entrepreneurship through Acquisition in Ghana, where he grew up and where his family still lived. While he knew he could work for a multi-national enterprise located in Ghana, he was confident... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship In Africa; Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition; Entrepreneurship; Acquisition; Ghana

2017
Working Paper

The Right Mix: Angels, Venture Capitalists, and the Assembly of Entrepreneurial Resources

By: Benjamin Hallen and Rory McDonald

New ventures rely on external relationships for capital, knowledge, and networks. We examine how ventures assemble these resources—and whether they are all accessible from the same sources—in relationships with two types of investors: venture capital firms and angels.... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship