Publications

September 1997 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Circles

By: William A. Sahlman and Jon Biotti

Janet Kraus and Kathy Sherbrooke started a resource and referral company specializing in helping busy people get things done. Issues include financing and product and marketing strategy. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Resource Allocation; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Service Industry; United States

November 1995
Case

Brian Henley founded InterZine Productions to develop interactive multimedia content for America Online (AOL) and the Internet. With funding and support from AOL's Greenhouse program, Henley has launched Golf, a unique interactive golf service. While he has operated on... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Capital; Financing and Loans; Internet and the Web; Management Teams; Innovation and Invention; Media and Broadcasting Industry

17 Jul 2012
First Look

First Look: July 17

identified and classified in terms of specifying, allocating, and utilizing capacity. The first two categories reflect challenges faced by infrastructure providers; the last category, challenges faced by... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 29

Publications August 2013 Journal of Financial Economics X-CAPM: An Extrapolative Capital Asset Pricing Model By: Barberis, Nicholas, Robin Greenwood, Lawrence Jin, and Andrei Shleifer Abstract—Survey evidence suggests that many investors form beliefs about future... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 1987 (Revised December 1998)
Background Note

Capital Market Myopia

By: William A. Sahlman and Howard H. Stevenson

Focuses attention on a phenomenon we call capital market myopia, a situation in which participants in the capital markets ignore the logical implications of their individual investment decisions. Viewed in isolation, each decision seems to make sense. When taken... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets

November 2004
Case

ClozeX Medical (A): The New Standard of Wound Closure

By: William A. Sahlman and Ryland Matthew Willis

Describes a set of decisions confronting the founder of a company with a revolutionary new wound-closure product. He must decide how to finance and exploit his venture. View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Product Launch; Medical Specialties; Corporate Finance; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

November 2004
Case

Barry Diller and IAC/InterActiveCorp

By: William A. Sahlman and Ryland Matthew Willis

Describes a discussion involving Barry Diller and the top management team at IAC/InteractiveCorp. about whether to buy LendingTree.com. If so, at what price and on what terms? View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Strategy; Management Teams; Business or Company Management

October 2002 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Intuit's New CEO: Steve Bennett

By: William A. Sahlman and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Describes the transition to a new CEO at Intuit, a successful software and financial services firm in California. The new CEO must decide what to change and how fast. He must also navigate within a culture everyone believes to be successful but he envisions can be... View Details

Keywords: Management Succession; Entrepreneurship; Organizational Culture; Applications and Software; Management Teams; Information Technology Industry; Financial Services Industry; California

December 1999
Case

E Ink: Financing Growth

By: William A. Sahlman and Matthew C. Lieb

A set of financial and strategic decisions confront the management of a company trying to develop a technology for creating "electronic ink." If successful, the company will be able to create "radio paper," essentially turning a piece of paper into a computer monitor... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Financial Management; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Strategy; Hardware

July 1989
Article

What Do Venture Capitalists Do?

By: William A. Sahlman and Michael Steven Gorman

Keywords: Venture Capital

October 1995 (Revised December 1996)
Case

Beechwood Spouts (B)

By: William A. Sahlman and Andrew S. Janower

Eight months has passed since Barker first invested in Beechwood Spouts, and the company's situation has deteriorated. The problems appear to be resolved. Barker must now decide whether to participate in a crucial bridge financing round, without which the company will... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financing and Loans; Information

April 1986 (Revised February 1989)
Case

Orbital Sciences Corp. (A)

By: William A. Sahlman and Howard H. Stevenson

Keywords: Aerospace Industry

10 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 10

PublicationsNonsimultaneous Chains and Dominos in Kidney Paired Donation—Revisited Authors:Itai Ashlagi, Duncan S. Gilchrist, Alvin E. Roth, and Michael A. Rees Publication:American Journal of Transplantation 11, no. 5 (May 2011)... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2017 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Discover Capital: Closing an Acquisition

By: Robert F. White, William A. Sahlman and Ramana Nanda

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Financing; Finance; Entrepreneurship; United States

June 2008 (Revised July 2008)
Case

How Serial Entrepreneurs Build and Manage a Board of Directors in a Venture-Backed Start Up

By: Michael J. Roberts, William A. Sahlman and Sasha Novakovich

This case includes structured interviews with four serial entrepreneurs about the way in which they built and used their boards in each of their companies and what they have learned through that process. These entrepreneurs were asked similar questions, such as "How do... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards

April 2001
Teaching Note

Streamline (A) and (B) TN

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Rafi Mohammed and William A. Sahlman

April 2001
Teaching Note

PlanetAll TN

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Steven Silverman and William A. Sahlman

Teaching Note for (9-898-105). For book only. View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Business Model; Web Services Industry

February 2001
Case

BarnesandNoble.com (B)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Dickson Louie and William A. Sahlman

At the end of 1998, Jonathan Bulkeley, the newly-named CEO of barnesandnoble.com, is faced with a challenge. As the second leading online bookseller behind Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com must build its market share. With Forrester Research predicting that the online... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Marketing Strategy; Publishing Industry