Going Private - Publications - Faculty & Research

December 2019
Case

WeWork Files for an IPO

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

For the board of The We Company—better known as WeWork—August 14, 2019, promised to be a pivotal day. It was then that WeWork’s IPO prospectus, known as an S-1 filing, would be made public, giving potential investors, the media, and the general public a window into the... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Going Public; Leadership; Management; Private Equity; Valuation; Venture Capital; Real Estate Industry; Technology Industry; United States

Citation

Educators

Purchase

13 Sep 2004
Research & Ideas

Cash and the Woman-Owned Business

private sources, and bank loans.9 Women have made extraordinary progress, but they still have much to learn. In spite of narrowing the debt-financing gap over the past decade, women continue to rely too heavily on personal credit cards,... View Details

Keywords: by Candida Brush, Nancy M. Carter, Elizabeth Gatewood, Patricia G. Greene & Myra M. Hart

30 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

COVID Not Slowing VC Investment

expect their investments to outperform major equity indexes going forward, and they’re continuing to fund new endeavors. “It’s sort of the opposite of doom and gloom,” Gompers says. “We were surprised by how relatively unaffected the... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services; Banking

07 Dec 2009
Research & Ideas

Government’s Positive Role in Kick-Starting Entrepreneurship

Silicon Valley is the poster child for capitalism, the synergistic geography where smart private money supports cool ideas, creates jobs, boosts national productivity, and provides a handsome return for investors. Less well understood... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

11 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Digital Designs on the Inner City

An increasing number of inner city residents own computers and have online access, but government agencies and private companies need to do more to bridge the digital divide that still exists among income groups, according to business and... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

25 Apr 2000
Research & Ideas

Adjusting the Fit for Government

skills development." Other essentials for governments, Donovan said, are a willingness to privatize businesses, and to follow the rule of law "as opposed to the rule of individual parties and special interests." Another is... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

25 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

China’s Economic System has Difficult Road Overcoming its Political System

all aspects of China's economy and how it will affect future MBAs. "It's not just one country, it has multiple different economies, different types of businesses, and a whole range of opportunities," says Kirby. "Whether or not they go to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

16 Oct 2013
Op-Ed

Response to Readers: Combating Climate Change with Nuclear Power and Fracking

incrementalism and convention. But to convert these new ideas into real alternatives, the world's governments need to go even farther. They must provide the nuclear regulatory redesign and physical facilities for prototype evaluation that... View Details

Keywords: by Joe Lassiter; Energy; Utilities

29 Aug 2024
Research & Ideas

Shoot for the Stars: What to Know About the Space Economy

sector. There was a big boom, a few years ago, in these private space enterprises trying to go public through special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). In a SPAC, somebody would start a company with the... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin; Aerospace

09 Apr 2013
First Look

First Look: April 9

http://hbr.org/search/113088-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 813-125 Plastiq 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... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Dec 2013
Research & Ideas

The Fantastic Horizon: How to Invest in a New City

to 2 million people by 2020. Is this private model needed at all? Why can't cities take the time to grow organically, like London or Jakarta? Here's why I believe we need to go faster and better, with seven... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Construction; Real Estate

20 May 2014
First Look

First Look: May 20

Publications August 2013 Journal of the European Economic Association Sovereigns, Upstream Capital Flows and Global Imbalances By: Alfaro, Laura, Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan, and Vadym Volosovych Abstract—We construct measures of net private... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Water, Electricity, and Transportation: Preparing for the Population Boom

By 2050, the Earth's population will likely exceed 9 billion people, up 30 percent from 6.9 billion today, according to projections from both the US Census Bureau and the United Nations. What's more, the population in the world's cities is expected to increase by 3... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

14 Dec 1999
Research & Ideas

From Spare Change to Real Change: The Social Sector as a Beta Site for Business Innovation

ideas for systemic change that private enterprises are uniquely qualified to contribute. As government downsizes and the public expects the private sector to step in to help solve community problems, it is... View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

15 Feb 2017
Op-Ed

What Africa Can Teach the United States About Funding Infrastructure Projects

care, security, and more). These are valid reasons. But there are workarounds that work. At Harvard Business School, my research looks at ways that the private sector can finance and deliver public infrastructure. For the last three... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Construction

09 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

How Business Leaders Can Strengthen American Schools

Business has long recognized the connection between an effective school system and a qualified workforce—by some estimates, the private sector invests $4 billion annually in efforts intended to improve public education. So why isn't that... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Education

20 Mar 2005
Research & Ideas

Lessons of Successful Entrepreneurs

industries that are going through a sea change. He recalled how a two-dollar ATM fee he once paid at an airport spurred him to start his own ATM network featuring out-of-town banks. Other ventures he helped create were a credit card... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

31 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 31, 2009

http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-101.pdf Does Public Ownership of Equity Improve Earnings Quality? Authors:Dan Givoly, Carla Hayn, and Sharon P. Katz Abstract We compare the quality of accounting numbers produced by two types of public firms-those with publicly... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

Rebuilding Commercial Real Estate

private capital sources," says Dubrowski, a founding partner of The Lionstone Group, a Houston-based investment firm. They took big risks and hoped for big rewards. The 1980s brought additional players to the table, none driven by... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Construction; Real Estate

24 Nov 2014
Research & Ideas

Corrupting Silence: Companies Must Speak Up Against Bribes

In a 2012 Harvard Business School case on corruption at German conglomerate Siemens AG, Peter Solmssen —brought in to clean house —reflects on how people approach a business bribe. "The stupid ones say, very simply, what are you going to... View Details