Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(3,434)
- Faculty Publications (1,113)
- September 2024
- Case
Myeloma Investment Fund
By: Kyle Myers and Scott Sawaya
This case explores a critical decision facing the Myeloma Investment Fund (MIF) as it evaluates two investment opportunities aimed at accelerating a cure for multiple myeloma.
The MIF, a venture philanthropy fund, must choose between two distinct paths. One... View Details
The MIF, a venture philanthropy fund, must choose between two distinct paths. One... View Details
- September 2024
- Article
Networking Frictions in Venture Capital, and the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship
By: Sabrina T. Howell and Ramana Nanda
We find that male participants in Harvard Business School’s New Venture Competition who were randomly exposed to more VC investors on their panel were substantially more likely to start a VC-backed startup post-graduation, indicating that access to investors impacts... View Details
- 20 Aug 2024
- Interview
Angel City Football Club: A New Business Model for Women’s Sports
By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Brian Kenny and Nicole Tempest Keller
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) was founded in 2020 by venture capitalist Kara Nortman, entrepreneur Julie Uhrman, and actor and activist Natalie Portman. As outsiders to professional sports, the all-female founding team had rewritten the playbook for how to build a... View Details
- August 2024 (Revised November 2024)
- Case
Mercado Bitcoin: M&A, IPO, or Series B?
By: Raymond Kluender, Emanuele Colonnelli, Sabrina T. Howell and Karina Souza
In April 2021, Brazilian cryptocurrency platform Mercado Bitcoin had to decide how to scale: go public, M&A with a bank, or take a VC big check. In a highly volatile market, Roberto Dagnoni, chairman of the board, viewed the unprecedent crypto momentum as a window of... View Details
Keywords: Cryptocurrency; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Decision Making; Going Public; Ownership Stake; Strategic Planning; Venture Capital; Problems and Challenges; Business Cycles; Digital Platforms; Emerging Markets; Market Timing; Expansion; Diversification; Valuation; Value Creation; Investment Funds; Initial Public Offering; Price; Price Bubble; Negotiation Offer; Financial Liquidity; Information Technology Industry; Financial Services Industry; Latin America; South America; Brazil; Sao Paulo; United States
- July 2024
- Case
Jacqueline Cook at Vendasta: Debating an IPO
By: Reza Satchu, Tom Quinn and Andrew Kosc
In May 2021, after a surge in demand for digital services that prompted high valuations for startups across the Canadian tech sector, Saskatchewan-based Vendasta entered the final stages of the initial public offering (IPO) process. COO Jacqueline Cook had invested her... View Details
Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Interpersonal Communication; Cost vs Benefits; Forecasting and Prediction; Business Cycles; Entrepreneurship; Fairness; Capital Markets; Private Equity; Investment Banking; Stock Options; Financial Markets; Initial Public Offering; Institutional Investing; Price Bubble; Digital Platforms; Digital Transformation; Internet and the Web; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Managerial Roles; Agreements and Arrangements; Going Public; Ownership Stake; Performance Expectations; Work-Life Balance; Strategic Planning; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Rank and Position; Risk and Uncertainty; Opportunities; Happiness; Reputation; Status and Position; Well-being; Information Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Canada
- June 2024 (Revised December 2024)
- Case
Lana Ghanem: Pushing the Boundaries of Health Care Through Venture Capital
By: Joshua D. Margolis and Ahmed Dahawy
Lana Ghanem, managing director of Hikma Ventures, the corporate venture arm of larger pharmaceutical group Hikma, is considering how to grow the venture arm as well as progress her own career. Over the past few years Hikma's executive team had been pressuring the... View Details
Keywords: Business Divisions; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Investment; Corporate Governance; Health Care and Treatment; Leadership Development; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Venture Capital; Personal Development and Career; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Jordan
- June 2024
- Case
Caesars Entertainment: Governance on the Road to Bankruptcy
By: Kristin Mugford
Caesars Entertainment was a large casino operator in the United States that had been purchased in a 2008 leveraged buyout by Apollo and TPG. In January 2015, Caesars Entertainment Operating Company (CEOC), its largest subsidiary, filed for Chapter 11. This set up a... View Details
Keywords: Gaming; Chapter 11; Fraudulent Conveyance; Apollo; TPG; Bankruptcy; Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Private Equity; Financial Management; Lawsuits and Litigation; Negotiation; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Borrowing and Debt; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Las Vegas
- June 2024
- Case
Alignvest Student Housing: Keep Building or Time to Sell?
By: Shikhar Ghosh and Patrick Sanguineti
Sanjil Shah, Managing Partner of Alignvest Student Housing REIT (ASH), faces the most significant decision thus far in his career: is it the right time to sell the company? Together with his partner Reza Satchu, Shah had developed ASH into the largest student housing... View Details
- June 2024
- Teaching Note
Miami's Climate Tech Potential (A): The State of Play
By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone
Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 324-119. Miami-Dade County led the work to get South Florida designated a national climate resilience tech hub, the only one of 31 focused on climate change, an urgent major issue for the region in light of global warming and sea level... View Details
- June 2024 (Revised March 2025)
- Case
Wemade: (Re)Establishing Trust in Blockchain Games (A)
By: Jung Koo Kang, Charles C.Y. Wang, David Allen and Kwangmoon So
This case explores the fundamental challenges and accounting issues arising from the integration of blockchain technology into traditional business models. It features Wemade, a South Korean online gaming company that has staked its future on blockchain-based games.... View Details
- 2024
- Working Paper
Investor Influence on Media Coverage: Evidence from Venture Capital-Backed Startups
By: Brian K. Baik and Albert Shin
We examine the role of investors on the media coverage of their private firm investments. Specifically, we survey VC investors and find that 78% of the respondents take active steps to increase their portfolio companies’ media coverage. The survey results also... View Details
- June 2024 (Revised September 2024)
- Case
Sequoia Capital
By: Jo Tango, Christina Wallace, Srimayi Mylavarapu and Johnson Elugbadebo
Sequoia Capital, a venture capital firm founded in 1972, quickly grew to become one of the most storied venture capital firms in the world. Fueled by a strong culture, Sequoia's investment track record included the names of some of the largest global successes.... View Details
- May 2024 (Revised March 2025)
- Case
MStudio and Djoli: Accelerating Startup Growth in Francophone Africa
By: Paul A. Gompers, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Temitayo Lawal
Djoli, a procurement platform, was one of the startups launched and supported by MStudio, a startup studio in Côte d'Ivoire, in 2023. After a year of operations, Djoli must look beyond MStudio, which had supported them financially and in kind in exchange for equity,... View Details
- May 2024
- Supplement
Miami’s Climate Tech Potential (B): The 2024 Tech Hub Proposal
By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jacob A. Small
Miami-Dade County led the work to get South Florida designated a national climate resilience tech hub, the only one of 31 focused on climate change, an urgent major issue for the region in light of global warming and sea level rise. Venture capitalists saw the... View Details
- May 2024 (Revised March 2025)
- Case
Hakluyt: From Corporate Intelligence to Trusted Advisors
By: Joseph B. Fuller and Lena Duchene
Established in 1995 by a group of ex-British intelligence officers, Hakluyt & Company (Hakluyt) was a corporate advisory firm that generated insights by leveraging a unique blend of internal expertise and a global network of well-connected individuals. Since 2019, the... View Details
Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Talent and Talent Management; Capital Structure; Cash Flow; Corporate Finance; Equity; Stock Shares; Corporate Governance; Business History; Compensation and Benefits; Recruitment; Leadership Style; Growth Management; Management Succession; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Networks; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Transformation; Consulting Industry; Europe; United Kingdom; England; London
- May 2024
- Supplement
Forest Park Capital (A)
By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff
During the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020, Betsy Harbison formed the search fund Forest Park Capital with the intention of purchasing a small business. The case conveys the details of Betsy’s final decision at the terminus of her search, between a software company... View Details
Keywords: Search Fund; Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition; Acquisition; Small Business; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Business Education; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Tourism Industry; Web Services Industry; North America; Missouri
- May 2024
- Supplement
Forest Park Capital (B)
By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff
During the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020, Betsy Harbison formed the search fund Forest Park Capital with the intention of purchasing a small business. The case conveys the details of Betsy’s final decision at the terminus of her search, between a software company... View Details
Keywords: Search Fund; Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition; Acquisition; Small Business; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Business Education; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Tourism Industry; Web Services Industry; North America; Missouri
- April 2024 (Revised August 2024)
- Case
The Engine
By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Jim Matheson, Fiona Murray and Nicholas Christman
The Engine, a venture capital firm founded by MIT to fill a gap in the technology funding landscape by commercializing breakthrough science and technology. Led by managing partner and CEO Katie Rae, the Engine's unique approach involved an unusually longer fund life,... View Details
- April 2024
- Article
Fee Variation in Private Equity
By: Juliane Begenau and Emil N. Siriwardane
We study how investment fees vary within private-capital funds. Net-of-fee return clustering suggests that most funds have two tiers of fees, and we decompose differences across tiers into both management and performance-based fees. Managers of venture capital funds... View Details
- Second Quarter 2024
- Article
Venture Capital in a Time of Turmoil
By: Josh Lerner
One area of consensus among academic
economists and policymakers is the need
for greater innovation. This concern is
rooted in worries about the lagging rate
of productivity growth in many Western
nations. In the U.S., for instance, the productivity growth rate... View Details