Publications

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August 1988 (Revised October 1988)
Background Note

Business Plan

Describes the various uses for a business plan and focuses on writing a business plan to attract financing for a new venture. View Details

Keywords: Business Plan; Business Startups; Borrowing and Debt; Venture Capital; Management

January 2009 (Revised March 2009)
Case

A Chinese Start-up's Midlife Crisis: 99Sushe.com

By: William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan and Tracy Manty

Now into their third year at the helm of an Internet start-up in China, Ken Pao and Bill Li were managing a totally different company (with a new name) from the one they first founded in 2006. Having changed their business model from a social networking site to an... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment Funds; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; China

December 2017
Supplement

Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle

In January 2017, the leadership team of Bega Cheese—the Australian dairy company—was considering a bid for Mondelēz International’s Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) grocery business which included several leading consumer brands (Vegemite—the iconic Australian spread,... View Details

September 2003
Case

Allscripts, Inc.

By: William A. Sahlman and Laurence E. Katz

Describes a set of decisions confronting an entrepreneurial team that is considering taking managerial control of Allscripts, a health care venture. The company has gone through nine rounds of external financing and has changed its business model several times. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business or Company Management; Venture Capital; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Corporate Finance; Health Industry

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November 2010 (Revised August 2016)
Case

The Changing Face of Angel Investing

By: William A. Sahlman and Evan Richardson

Angel investors Ram Shriram, Mike Maples, Eric Paley, James Geshweiler, and Jim Southern discuss their investment philosophies and the changing landscape of angel investing. Questions include: • How has angel investing changed in the last few years? • How do you... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Venture Capital; Investment Funds

01 Sep 2012
News

Doriot Papers Arrive at HBS

founding fathers of the venture capital industry. Georges F. Doriot was born in France in 1899 and came to America in 1921. He attended HBS for one year, headed to Wall Street, then returned to the School in... View Details

Keywords: Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions; Arts, Entertainment; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

01 Jan 2006
News

Sir Ronald M. Cohen, MBA 1969

venture capital and private equity. Last year, he stepped down from his management responsibilities to devote all his efforts to social investing in the United Kingdom and the Middle East. "Those who have... View Details

20 Jul 2017
News

Life Lab Nurtures Early Stage Startup Day Zero Diagnostics

the i-lab have given us the opportunity to do just that,” says Lee, who explains that the amount of capital required to do complex wet lab science is an order of magnitude more than what a typical software View Details

Keywords: Scientific Research and Development Services

07 Feb 2018
News

Athenahealth Taps Former GE CEO Jeff Immelt as Chairman

Immelt had overseen the growth of GE Healthcare to a $20 billion business. Immelt was also recently brought in as a venture partner at New England Associates, one of the country’s largest venture View Details

Keywords: Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services; Information

May 2022 (Revised December 2023)
Case

Founder Collective

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

Founder Collective ("FC") launched in 2009 with a clear mission: to be the most aligned fund for founders at the seed stage. In keeping with its mission, FC maintained smaller fund sizes and was not a lifecycle investor. By November of 2021, the seed market had become... View Details

Keywords: Seed Investing; Business Startups; Mission and Purpose; Investment; Competitive Strategy; Venture Capital

01 Dec 2016
News

Starting Lineup: Upturning Travel

websites. FLYR CEO Jean Tripier (MBA 1992) Founded in 2013 “The data science company that ends the guessing game of booking airfares.” When JetBlue created a venture capital arm earlier this year, its first... View Details

Keywords: April White

01 Dec 2009
News

The Fab Four

submitted were quite a bit different from what they first showed me.” A member of Staples’ original management team, Krasnow is currently a domain expert in marketing at Highland Capital Partners, a Boston-based View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; contests; Technical and Trade Schools; Educational Services; Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services; Information; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information; Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing

October 2011
Case

Gene Sequencing: Staking a Position in an Expanding Industry

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Mara Aspinall and Phillip Andrews

Towards the end of 2010, companies in the gene sequencing industry were pushing aggressive R&D programs to develop technologies and products in the race to sequence the entire human genome at a cost of $1,000. It remained to be seen when the "$1,000 genome" would... View Details

Keywords: Genetics; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Plan; Competition; Venture Capital; Biotechnology Industry

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January 2010 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Savage Beast (A1)

By: Noam Wasserman and LP Maurice

For several months, things had been spiraling downwards at Savage Beast, the music-recommendation company started three years before by Tim Westergren. The company's founder-CEO recently left due to pressures both at home and within the venture. Dozens of investors... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Lawsuits and Litigation; Management Teams; Partners and Partnerships

11 Mar 2008
News

Soak the Rich?

pay-as-you-go legislation. At issue was whether venture capital, private equity, and hedge fund partners should continue to pay the 15 percent capital gains tax rate on their earnings. Lawmakers had proposed... View Details

Keywords: Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Finance

April 2000
Case

Francisco Partners

By: Josh Lerner and David L. Gallo

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, fundraising strategy, and partnership terms and conditions are among the topics explored. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Strategy; Investment Funds; Financial Services Industry