Publications

January 1995
Background Note

A Note on Distribution of Venture Investments

Venture capitalists typically exit investments by distributing shares to investors. These transfers pose challenges for these investors. Predictions and evidence about the behavior of stock prices of firms around the time of these distributions are presented. View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Venture Capital; Stocks; Investment; Price

December 1994 (Revised November 1997)
Background Note

Information Sources About Private Equity

Provides an overview of key sources of information. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity

November 1994 (Revised December 1995)
Case

Scripps Research Institute, The: November 1993 (Abridged)

In November 1993, Dr. Richard Lerner, president of the Scripps Research Institute, faces the challenge of maintaining his organization's financial and scientific vitality. A proposed cooperative venture with Sandoz has attracted considerable criticism. Meanwhile, a new... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Financing and Loans; Policy; Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Problems and Challenges; Research; Nonprofit Organizations

November 1994 (Revised January 2006)
Background Note

An Introduction to Patents and Trade Secrets

Provides an overview of patent and trade secret protection. Also discusses the legal processes through which intellectual property is protected and litigated. View Details

Keywords: Patents; Intellectual Property

Article

The Syndication of Venture Capital Investments

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment

April 1994
Article

Venture Capitalists and the Decision to Go Public

Keywords: Venture Capital; Decision Making; Going Public

January 1994 (Revised April 2011)
Background Note

Note on Private Equity Partnership Agreements

Venture capital by necessity is a long-run investment. Consequently, since the mid-1960s virtually all venture financing has been raised through private partnerships with a ten-year or longer life span. To govern these investments, complex contracts have sprung up... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Investment; Governance; Contracts; Partners and Partnerships

January 1994 (Revised November 1997)
Case

Aberlyn Capital Management: July 1993

By: Josh Lerner and Peter Tufano

Aberlyn Capital Management, a venture leasing firm specializing in providing capital to biotechnology firms, proposes to introduce a new product. Aberlyn will base a lease on an intangible product: the patent of a biotechnology firm. This poses a series of short and... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Valuation; Product Launch; Problems and Challenges; Patents; Financial Instruments; Financial Services Industry; Biotechnology Industry

January 1994 (Revised July 1998)
Case

Repligen Corporation: January 1992

By: Josh Lerner and David Kane

Sandford Smith, CEO of Repligen, faces the breakdown of negotiations about a proposed joint venture with a large pharmaceutical firm. He must decide whether to proceed using his firm's internal resources or whether to seek to revise the proposed collaboration. If the... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Decisions; Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Value

January 1994 (Revised November 2001)
Background Note

Note on the Venture Leasing Industry, A

Provides an overview of venture leasing, an innovative financing mechanism that resembles both venture equity investments and bank lending. View Details

Keywords: Finance

January 1994 (Revised April 1995)
Case

EMC Corporation: Response to Shareholder Litigation (A)

EMC Corp. is the target of a shareholder class-action lawsuit for the second time. CEO, Richard Egan, must decide whether to settle the case, as is done in 96% of such cases and as EMC itself did previously, or fight the action. View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Lawsuits and Litigation; Going Public; Management Teams; Business and Shareholder Relations; Technology Industry; United States

January 1994 (Revised April 1994)
Case

EMC Corporation: Response to Shareholder Litigation (B)

Reports EMC's decision concerning the second shareholder class-action suit and its implications. Legislative efforts to reform securities litigation are also discussed. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Lawsuits and Litigation; Going Public; Policy; Management Teams; Business and Shareholder Relations; Technology Industry; United States

April 1993 (Revised October 1995)
Case

ALZA and Bio-Electro Systems (A): Technological and Financial Innovation

By: Josh Lerner and Peter Tufano

To develop the next generation of risky products, ALZA, a mature and profitable biotechnology firm specializing in drug delivery systems, must raise $40 million. Organizational constraints and competitive concerns demand that the work be done inside the firm. However,... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Technological Innovation; Business Subsidiaries; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Finance; Biotechnology Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry