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February 2021 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Collab Capital

By: Natalia Rigol, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Mitchell Weiss

Founded in 2020 by Jewel Burks Solomon and her partners, Barry Givens and Justin Dawkins, Collab Capital was a new investment firm built on two pillars: first, it would identify and support ventures founded by Black entrepreneurs, a group underrepresented in... View Details

Keywords: Black Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Race; Business Startups; Financial Services Industry; Atlanta

20 Mar 2024

The Value of an MBA in Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Venture Capital

Whether you're currently immersed in the technology, entrepreneurship, or venture capital landscape, or you harbor aspirations for a future in these dynamic sectors, we invite you to join a panel of HBS... View Details

February 2002 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Battery Ventures

By: Josh Lerner, G. Felda Hardymon, Ann Leamon, Nitin Gupta and Sameer Bharadwaj

Todd Dagres, general partner of Battery Ventures, reflects on his firm's organization and its effectiveness in one particular deal. One of the perennial challenges of venture capital is the scaling of the firm. Usually regarded as a craft industry, venture firms tend... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Measurement and Metrics; Performance Effectiveness; Organizational Structure; Financial Services Industry

Article

Short-Termism and Capital Flows

By: Jesse M. Fried and Charles C.Y. Wang

During 2007–2016, S&P 500 firms distributed to shareholders $7 trillion via buybacks and dividends, over 96% of their aggregate net income, prompting claims that "short-termism" is impairing firms' ability to invest and innovate. We show that, when taking into account... View Details

Keywords: Short-termism; Quarterly Capitalism; Share Buybacks; Open Market Repurchases; Dividends; Equity Issuances; Seasoned Equity Offerings; Equity Compensastion; Acquisitions; Payout Policy; Capital Flows; Capital Distribution; Working Capital; Business and Shareholder Relations; Acquisition

24 Apr 2014
News

A founding father of Silicon Valley venture capital guides entrepreneurs

Throughout his long career as a venture capitalist, Franklin “Pitch” Johnson (MBA 1952) has worked primarily in the biotech industry, earning a reputation as a thoughtful investor, trusted adviser, and generous philanthropist. In 1962,... View Details

16 May 2023
Video

A Conversation with Professor Jeff Bussgang and HBS Alumni on Venture Capital

1999
Chapter

Exploration of the Venture Capital Industry: Is Gender An Issue?

By: Myra Hart, C. Brush, P. Greene and P. Saparito

Keywords: Venture Capital; Gender

24 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Something Ventured, Something Gained: A European View of Venture Capital

Venture capital is a tale of two continents, HBS professor Josh Lerner (coauthor of the book The Venture Capital Cycle) explained in his opening... View Details

Keywords: by James E. Aisner; Financial Services

13 Oct 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Fencing Off Silicon Valley: Cross-Border Venture Capital and Technology Spillovers

Keywords: by Ufuk Akcigit, Sina T. Ates, Josh Lerner, Richard Townsend, and Yulia Zhestkova; Financial Services

2005
Other Unpublished Work

Venture Capital Investment Cycles: The Role of Experience and Specialization

By: P. Gompers, Anna R. Kovner, Josh Lerner and David S. Scharfstein

Keywords: Venture Capital

October 2012 (Revised February 2019)
Case

Whaling Ventures

By: Tom Nicholas and Jonas Peter Akins

Whaling was a prominent global industry in the nineteenth century and the United States was dominant. By 1850 there were about 900 whaling ships in the world and 700 of these were American. Rates of return on capital were high compared to benchmark investments, at... View Details

Keywords: Whaling; Organization Design; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Finance; Organizational Design; Industry Growth; History; United States

August 2022 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Altos Ventures (A)

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

In December 2012, Altos Ventures General Partners Han Kim, Anthony Lee, and Ho Nam met to discuss the future of the firm. Altos had already adjusted its strategy multiple times. It began as a U.S.-focused venture capital investor whose first two funds were backed by a... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Venture Capital; Investment Portfolio; Partners and Partnerships