Publications

12 Apr 2016
First Look

April 12, 2016

higher average value. Using data on 165,410 projects posted on Kickstarter (2009–2015), we report findings consistent with the model's predictions. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50821 Pay Now or Pay Later? The Economics within... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

27 Sep 2016
First Look

September 27, 2016

forthcoming Measuring Entrepreneurial Businesses: Current Knowledge and Challenges Venture Capital Data: Opportunities and Challenges By: Kaplan, Steven N., and Josh Lerner Abstract—This paper describes the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

27 Jan 2009
First Look

First Look: January 27, 2009

debut at a prominent industry conference, coverage on the front page of the New York Times' Business section, and the raising of a large round of financing from a top-tier venture capital firm. His attempts... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

CrossBoundary Energy

By: John Macomber

Almost 500 million people are without electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. Governments and public utilities are challenged to bring generation and distribution to most of them. Considerable promise exists in “off-grid” or “mini-grid” technologies, notably using renewable... View Details

Keywords: Energy Investing; Economic Development; Renewable Energy; Business Growth and Maturation; Developing Countries and Economies; Project Finance; Emerging Markets; Industry Structures; Infrastructure; Segmentation; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Africa; Tanzania; Ghana

12 Apr 2011
First Look

First Look: April 12

Handbook for Banking and Governance, edited by James Barth, Chen Lin, and Clas Wihlborg. Cheltenham, U.K.: Edward Elgar Publishing, forthcoming Abstract In this chapter, we examine the characteristics of acquisition of private firms by... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2017 (Revised August 2020)
Case

The U-Turns of National Truck Stops

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Alexander W. Schultz

Raj Makam had spent months trying to restructure a 2006 investment he had made in National Truck Stops, Inc. (NTS) as a senior member of Oaktree Capital Management’s (Oaktree) Mezzanine finance business within their Corporate Debt platform. It was the first time they... View Details

Keywords: Mezzanine Financing; Corporate Debt; Bankruptcy; Real Assets; Financing and Loans; Borrowing and Debt; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Restructuring; Private Equity; Cost vs Benefits; Atlanta; New York (city, NY)

04 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

When Founders Recruit Friends and Family as Investors

becoming one, you should read this book," Shah wrote.) Jeff Bussgang, a general partner at the early-stage venture capital firm Flybridge Capital Partners, blogged,... View Details

Keywords: by Noam Wasserman

June 2017
Teaching Note

The U-Turns of National Truck Stops

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Alexander W. Schultz

Raj Makam had spent months trying to restructure a 2006 investment he had made in National Truck Stops, Inc. (“NTS”) as a senior member of Oaktree Capital Management’s (“Oaktree”) Mezzanine finance business within their Corporate Debt platform. It was the first time... View Details

Keywords: Mezzanine Financing; Corporate Debt; Bankruptcy; Real Assets; Financing and Loans; Borrowing and Debt; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Restructuring; Private Equity; Cost vs Benefits; Atlanta; New York (city, NY)

19 Aug 2008
First Look

First Look: August 19, 2008

Aurora Capital, a U.S. Private Equity firm, contemplates whether to acquire Douglas Dynamics, the leading U.S. maker of snow plows. Does a business that is highly dependent on the weather, and is seasonal,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Mar 2023
In Practice

What Does the Failure of Silicon Valley Bank Say About the State of Finance?

private equity subscription lines—that is, lines secured by VC and private equity fund commitments but ones used to fund investments in the... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Banking

01 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: Nov. 1

repatriated earnings from foreign affiliates exceeded net capital investments by $1.1 trillion in 2010 dollars; and from 1950 to 2010, repatriated earnings and net interest from foreign affiliates exceeded net View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

28 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Coronavirus Could Create a 'Bankruptcy Pandemic'

directed, allow significant numbers of businesses to avoid bankruptcy. There are also massive amounts of private sector capital potentially available to support businesses in need. Bank balance sheets are... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Banking

March 2016 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Michael Milken: The Junk Bond King

By: Tom Nicholas and Matthew G. Preble

Michael Milken, an investment banker who dominated the junk bond market in the 1980s, was sentenced to jail in 1990 after pleading guilty to a number of securities and tax-related felonies. In the preceding decade, Milken had helped usher in a new wave of leveraged buy... View Details

Keywords: Junk Bonds; High-yield Bonds; Financial Innovation; Shareholder Value; Bonds; Capital; Capital Structure; Cost of Capital; Crime and Corruption; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Finance; Investment Banking; Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Ownership; Private Equity; Restructuring; United States