Startup Financing - Publications - Faculty & Research - Harvard Business School

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01 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

Crowdfunding a Poor Investment?

push the bottleneck to the second phase, similar to the "Series A crunch" occurring in the early stage financing of startups today. After all, even with traditional VC financing, investors in View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

March 2022 (Revised April 2022)
Teaching Note

Spotify's Audio-First Strategy: Leading the Podcasting Market

By: Hong Luo and Carol Lin

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 721-439. Within 15 years, CEO Daniel Ek had led Spotify from an ambitious startup to a multi-billion dollar company that had transformed the music industry. As part of Spotify’s next phase of growth, the platform would invest heavily in... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Divisions; Customer Relationship Management; Revenue; Music Industry

May 2021
Article

Mutual Funds as Venture Capitalists? Evidence from Unicorns

By: Josh Lerner, Sergey Chernenko and Yao Zeng

The past decade saw the rise of both “founder-friendly” venture financings and non-traditional investors, frequently with liquidity constraints. Using detailed contract data, we study open-end mutual funds investing in private venture-backed firms. We posit an... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Investment; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Governance

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October 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Arlan Hamilton and Backstage Capital

By: Laura Huang and Sarah Mehta

Frustrated by an inability to convince existing venture capital firms to invest in companies led by women, people of color, and LGBT founders, Arlan Hamilton started her own firm, Backstage Capital, in 2015. Hamilton understood the untapped potential of companies run... View Details

Keywords: Black Leadership; LGBTQ; Women; People Of Color; Entrepreneurship; Mission and Purpose; Venture Capital; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Identity; Personal Characteristics; Prejudice and Bias; Social Issues; Diversity; Gender; Race

December 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Teaching Note

Forecasting ClimaCell

By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Christopher Stanton and James Barnett

A weather technology startup, ClimaCell considers the R&D trade-offs and financing implications of pursuing a proposed contract with a major automobile maker, rather than continuing its focus on building a scalable, all-purpose weather prediction engine. View Details

Keywords: Weather; Forecasting and Prediction; Business Startups; Research and Development; Finance; Cost vs Benefits; Decision Making; Strategy; United States; Israel; Massachusetts; Colorado

February 1999 (Revised June 1999)
Case

Hotmail

Sabeer Bhatia, cofounder and CEO of Hotmail, is making efforts to finance and grow this business, which is based on free Web-based e-mail. Describes early, successful efforts at raising several rounds of venture capital and presents choices around a next stage of... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Internet; Financing and Loans; Problems and Challenges; Business Startups; Web Services Industry

October 2002 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Aspen Aerogels

By: William A. Sahlman and Taslim Pirmohamed

Describes a newly formed manufacturer of insulation materials. The company has developed and patented a new insulation material that can be used in a wide range of markets. Capital must be raised to finance building a manufacturing facility and fund early market... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Patents; Production; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Construction Industry; Manufacturing Industry

October 1995
Case

Centex Telemanagement, Inc. (B)

By: William A. Sahlman and Andrew S. Janower

Contains a description of the events surrounding the financing of Centex Telemanagement, Inc. by Sierra Ventures, a venture capital fund. The case is written from the perspective of the venture capitalists and is designed to teach students about the process of venture... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Financial Institutions; Business Startups

February 2024 (Revised September 2024)
Case

TimeCredit

By: Emanuele Colonnelli, Raymond Kluender and Shai Benjamin Bernstein

TimeCredit is an artificial intelligence (AI) startup that is developing large language models (LLMs) to generate accounting memos. The case follows Ndonga Sagnia, a Gambian Harvard Business School MBA student with an accounting background, as she decides how much... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; AI and Machine Learning; Entrepreneurial Finance; Identity; Technology Industry

March 2017 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Floodgate: On the Hunt for Thunder Lizards

By: Rory McDonald, Alix Burke, Emma Franking and Nicole Tempest

Founded in 2008, Floodgate pioneered the “micro-VC” category, a new type of investment firm that raised smaller funds and made earlier, smaller investments in technology startups than traditional venture-capital firms. By 2015, Floodgate had raised three funds totaling... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Business Models; Angel Investors; Crowdfunding; Incubators; Accelerators; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Information Technology; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Competitive Strategy

July 2002 (Revised August 2003)
Case

EXP Systems

By: Malcolm S. Salter and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Discusses selecting investors and avoiding board-level conflicts of interest in start-ups. Using the "term sheet" in third-round financing as a negotiation over future governance and control rights. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Governance Controls; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business Startups; Management Teams

February 2001
Case

Bang Networks, Inc.

By: Paul A. Gompers and Sergio Rattner

Bob Rosin, president and CEO of Bang Networks, must decide how much debt financing to take on. The company is a raw start-up and is considering taking on $10 million in debt. The firm has six offers and needs to identify the best one. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Restructuring; Decisions; Borrowing and Debt; Venture Capital

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December 2012 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Plastiq

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Gaurav Jain, Liroy Haddad, Luke Langford and Matt Noble

The young CEO of a venture-backed startup needs to figure out his go to market strategy and the right profile for his first key sales hires. Should he develop partnerships with channels that would provide leverage or build out a direct sales force? And should the sales... View Details

Keywords: Payments; Sales; Channels; Credit Cards; Digital Platforms; Selection and Staffing; Cost vs Benefits; Salesforce Management; Marketing Channels; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Management Systems

May 2020 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Amy Klopfenstein and Amram Migdal

In November 2019, Sandra Richter, co-founder and CEO of Soofa, a network of advertising-supported digital bulletin boards, must decide between two different fundraising and expansion plans for her company. One plan entails raising $15 million in a Series A round and... View Details

January 2006 (Revised August 2008)
Case

Vivaldi Food Concepts--The Start-up of an Asian Venture (A)

Joel Silverstein needs to raise an additional $1.5 million from private investors to round out the equity financing for his new Quick Service Restaurant venture in China, Korea, and Japan. How should he pitch the opportunity? What should be the terms? View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Business Startups; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan; China; South Korea

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September 2021 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Harambe: Mobilizing Capital in Africa

By: Anywhere (Siko) Sikochi, Dilyana Karadzhova Botha and Francesco Tronci

Harambe was a non-profit organization whose mission was to build an ecosystem to identify promising young African entrepreneurs and provide them access to training, markets, capital, and support networks. From 2007 to 2021, Harambe had grown to a network of 367... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Business Model; Strategy; Organizational Structure; Business Startups; Capital; Venture Capital; Social and Collaborative Networks; Networks; Developing Countries and Economies; Emerging Markets; Africa; South Africa

January 2000 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Officenet (A): Making Entrepreneurship Work in Argentina

Describes the creation and financing of Officenet, an office supply distributor in Argentina. The company serves the business-to-business market through a catalog (combined with phone orders) and also through an Internet-based catalog. Officenet is a pioneer in both... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Distribution Industry; Argentina

October 2011 (Revised October 2013)
Supplement

Gracious Eloise: What Do Angels Want? (B)

By: Lena G. Goldberg, Janet Kraus and Mary Beth Findlay

Having received an extensive critique of her business plan but only a small amount of financing from an angel group she pitched in 2010, Eloise Bune responds to the angels' concerns, refines her presentation, and pitches her company again. View Details

Keywords: Business Plan; Business Startups; Investment; Presentations

June 2005 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Distrobot Systems, Inc.

By: William A. Sahlman

Distrobot is a start-up that has developed a new system for warehouse automation. The company is trying to raise money to finance the launch of the product. The founder must decide how much capital to raise, from whom, and on what terms. View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Product Launch; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Distribution Industry; Service Industry

February 2013 (Revised December 2015)
Case

Groom Energy Solutions: Selling Efficiency

By: Michael W. Toffel, Kira R. Fabrizio and Stephanie van Sice

Groom Energy Solutions helps organizations reduce their energy use and costs through the implementation of energy efficiency measures, which create long-term financial and environmental benefits. With early success serving customers in the cold storage and industrial... View Details

Keywords: Groom Energy Solutions; Jon Guerster; Salem, MA; Energy Management; Energy Efficiency Paradox; Sustainability Management; Manufacturing; Cold Storage; Commercial Real Estate; Enterprise Smart Grid; Carbon Accounting; LED Lighting; Sustainability Research; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Entrepreneurship; Energy Entrepreneurship; Energy Services; Electricity; Startup; Expansion; Growth; Sustainability; Business Startups; Forecasting and Prediction; Energy Conservation; Revenue; Geographic Location; Human Resources; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Service Delivery; Strategic Planning; Science; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Society; Social Issues; Technology Adoption; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Utilities Industry; United States; Boston

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