Publications

10 Apr 2019
HBS Case

How Entrepreneurs Can Turn Lead Into Gold

writer based in the Boston area. Image credit: Gremlin Related Reading: Venture Investors Prefer Funding Handsome Men Amazon Web Services Changed the Way VCs Fund Startups... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

September 2019 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Blenheim Chalcot

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In April 2019, Manoj Badale and Charles Mindenhall, co-founders of Blenheim Chalcot, were contemplating how they might go about developing their portfolio. Since founding the company as an internet consultancy called netdecisions in 1998, Badale and Mindenhall had... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; United Kingdom; United States; India

March 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Scale and Scope at Drake Real Estate Partners

By: Christina R. Wing and David Lane

Realizing in early 2021 that their pending real estate investment fund would likely be oversubscribed, Drake Real Estate Partners co-founders Nicolás Ibáñez and David Cotterman were considering how best to continue to diversify their investor base and how to optimize... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Family Business; Investment; Ownership; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States; Latin America; Chile

March 2015 (Revised January 2024)
Case

CV Ingenuity (A): How to Evaluate the Commercial Viability of New Health Care Technologies

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Andrew Otazo

Duke Rohlen (HBS MBA ’01) hoped to win over a prominent venture capital investor for Series B financing of his firm CVI that was creating a drug-eluting balloon (DES) to treat peripheral arterial disease. As a second-mover, Duke felt he was more likely to acquire... View Details

March 2010
Supplement

Whose Money Is It Anyway? (C)

By: V.G. Narayanan, Richard G. Hamermesh and Rachel Gordon

The case describes how the Brigham and Women's Physicians Organization and its corporate parent resolved the issue of how the disputed funds would be distributed and used. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Business Subsidiaries; Organizational Design; Conflict and Resolution; Resource Allocation; Health Industry

April 2017 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Restructuring Ukraine

By: Kristin Mugford, Seema Amble and Tian Feng

In June 2015, Ukraine found itself struggling with a volatile and devalued currency, dramatically diminished foreign reserves, and a projected financing shortfall of $40 billion. Ukraine’s new government sought to return the nation to stability following political... View Details

Keywords: Exchange Rates; Politics; Macroeconomics; Financial Crisis; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Restructuring; Economy; Currency Exchange Rate; Banks and Banking; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Bonds; Sovereign Finance; Capital Markets; Credit; Debt Securities; Financial Liquidity; Financial Markets; Government and Politics; Ukraine

2012
Case

Robert Whelan and the Student Loan Crisis (A)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Olivia Leskinen

Robert Whelan and the Student Loan Crisis (A) 2009 AL Fellow Bob Whelan developed an idea with partners that was a seed before his fellowship year and seemed to address a significant national challenge - college financing - with a creative concept and experience from... View Details

21 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

Searching for Better Practices in Social Investing

Investing: Emerging Trends in a Changing Landscape," a recent panel discussion hosted by Harvard Business School's Social Enterprise Initiative. They also touched on growing trends including venture View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

August 2010 (Revised March 2012)
Supplement

The Dow Acquisition of Rohm and Haas (C)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Melissa Barton

The global economy entered a crippling recession in the fourth quarter of 2008 and Dow lost its primary source of funding for its planned acquisition of Rohm and Haas. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Crisis; Financing and Loans; Chemical Industry

December 2020
Article

Different Founders, Different Firms: A Comparative Analysis of Academic and Non-academic Startups

By: Maria P. Roche, Annamaria Conti and Frank T. Rothaermel

What role do differences in founders' occupational backgrounds play in new venture performance? Analyzing a novel dataset of 2,998 founders creating 1,723 innovative startups in biomedicine, we find that the likelihood and hazard of achieving a liquidity event are... View Details

Keywords: Founders; Innovation; Occupational Imprinting; Academic Startups; Non-academic Startups; Founder Heterogeneity; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention; Performance; Demographics; Analysis

Read Now

July – August 2011
Article

Evolve (Again)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Frenzy over social networks and interactive media can produce equally overhyped predictions that everything will change, not to mention money-losing investments in silly ventures. Separating enduring strategic lessons from the hype can help avoid a new crash. Hint: the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Venture Capital; Investment; Technological Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Partners and Partnerships

Find at Harvard

22 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

Recessions Push Some Entrepreneurs to Launch Too Soon

performance on average. Silverthorne: For entrepreneurs who decide to stay the course, what does the funding outlook look like? Roche: Funding opportunities may dry up as View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

25 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

It’s All in a Name: Reputable Investors Help Startups Shine

convince others to join your company?” Attracting high-quality talent is an important challenge for any young firm, and it’s critical to establishing reputation and growth. Simply publicizing a well-known venture capital firm as a View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

Research Summary

Institutions and Innovation

Henry Chesbrough's research interests lie at the intersection of organizations and innovation. His research to date falls into two tracks.

The first track examines the effect of the firm's institutional environment upon its ability to respond to innovation... View Details

March 2025
Case

Silicon Valley Bank: Gone in 36 Hours

By: Jung Koo Kang, Krishna G. Palepu, Charles C.Y. Wang and David Lane

This case examines factors contributing to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in March 2023, an event as unpredicted as it was quick. SVB funded nearly half of all U.S. venture-backed startups and at the end of 2022 held $173 billion in deposits, largely... View Details

25 Jan 2008
Working Paper Summaries

What Do Non-Governmental Organizations Do?

Keywords: by Eric D. Werker & Faisal Z. Ahmed

July 2007 (Revised November 2009)
Case

Greenpeace

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Jordan Mitchell

Nearly all environmental organizations have a similar aim: to stop the degradation of the natural environment. However, the strategies which environmental organizations choose to employ are sometimes starkly different. Compares the models of two dissimilar... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Non-Governmental Organizations; Business Strategy

January 2005 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Gobi Partners: October 2004

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

The general partners of Gobi Partners, a venture fund located in Shanghai, are trying to decide the best way to raise money for their first fund. Their strategy of investing in early-stage digital media companies in China was well-received by strategic investors--IBM... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Investment; Goals and Objectives; Emerging Markets; Problems and Challenges; Conflict Management; Shanghai