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Publications
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- Faculty Publications (906)
- June 2014
- Teaching Note
Steve Carpenter at Cake Financial
After investing $9 million of venture capital, Cake Financial had failed to reach critical mass. In early 2010 Cake's assets were sold and the company was dissolved. Founded in 2006, the San Francisco-based Internet company allowed users to monitor their investments... View Details
- May 2014
- Case
Sasol: U.S. Growth Program
Sasol, the world's largest producer of synthetic oil from coal and gas, has announced plans to build a huge Catalytic cracker and gas-to-liquids plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana. This $21 billion venture will be the single largest foreign direct investment in US... View Details
- 2014
- Working Paper
The Cost of Friendship
By: Paul A. Gompers, Vladimir Mukharlyamov and Yuhai Xuan
We investigate how personal characteristics affect people's desire to collaborate and whether this attraction enhances or detracts from performance in venture capital. We find that venture capitalists who share the same ethnic, educational, or career background are... View Details
- March 2014
- Technical Note
Venture Capital Investment in the Clean Energy Sector
By: Ramana Nanda and Shikhar Ghosh
In this note, we examine the extent to which venture capital is adequately positioned for the rapid commercialization of clean energy technologies in the United States. The need for a revolution in clean energy is driven not just by environmental consequences of energy... View Details
- 2014
- Article
Investors Prefer Entrepreneurial Ventures Pitched by Attractive Men
By: Alison Wood Brooks, Laura Huang, Sarah Kearney and Fiona Murray
Entrepreneurship is a central path to job creation, economic growth, and prosperity. In the earliest stages of start-up business creation, the matching of entrepreneurial ventures to investors is critically important. The entrepreneur's business proposition and... View Details
- February 2014
- Background Note
Raising Startup Capital
By: Jeffrey Bussgang
Entrepreneurs typically focus their full energies on business-building. But raising capital is a core part of building a valuable business. Developing expertise in raising capital is more than a necessary evil, it is a competitive weapon. Master it and you will be in a... View Details
Keywords: Fund Raising; Venture Capital Term Sheet; Venture Creation/development; Venture Investing; Venture Philanthropy; Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurial Management; Entrepreneurs; Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act; Non-equity Financing; Convertible Notes; Convertible Debt; Debt Financing; Raising Capital; National Venture Capital Association; Venture Capital Firm Compensation; Crowdfunding; Crowd-funding; Startup; Start-up; Startup Management; Startups; Angel Investors; Angels; Accelerator; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Financial Services Industry; United States
- February 2014 (Revised August 2016)
- Case
Strava
By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman and Sid Misra
Strava is a new fast-growing social network for the avid cyclist and runner. The Strava case traces the entrepreneurial journey of two serial entrepreneurs who have been co-founders in a prior venture, and who have co-founded Strava 3 years ago. The protagonists must... View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Cycling; Biking; Running; Sports; Technology; Mobile App; Mobile; GPS; Motivation; Behavioral Science; Founders; Term Sheet; Investment; Terms; Silicon Valley; Lifestyle; Strava; Financing; Fundraising; Angel; Valuation; Growth; Forecast; Business Startups; Business Plan; Trends; Forecasting and Prediction; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Institutional Investing; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Management Succession; Growth Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Timing; Bicycle Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Technology Industry; Sports Industry; Web Services Industry; California; New England
- February 2014 (Revised April 2015)
- Case
Go Beyond Investing
By: Lynda Applegate, Vincent Dessain, Emilie Billaud and Daniela Beyersdorfer
In 2013, Brigitte Baumann, founder of the Pan-European angel investing provider Go Beyond Investing, reflected on the evolution of her venture and the way forward. Her company, which offered deal flow and training to novice and experienced angel investors and ran... View Details
- January 2014
- Case
Maricopa, Inc.: Finding the Right Treatment for Growth
The founders of Maricopa, Inc., a startup that sold proprietary hair-care products directly to salons, were preparing a board presentation to address the young company's inability to meet financial projections. While the products had caught on with customers, the... View Details
- January 2014 (Revised October 2014)
- Case
Andreessen Horowitz
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Liz Kind
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a venture capital firm launched in 2009, has quickly broken into the VC industry's top ranks, in terms of its ability to invest in Silicon Valley's most promising startups. The case recounts the firm's history; describes its co-founders'... View Details
- January 2014 (Revised January 2014)
- Case
Henry Schein: Doing Well by Doing Good?
By: Rebecca Henderson, Raffaella Sadun, Aldo Sesia and Russell Eisenstat
Henry Schein Inc., a distributor of supplies to dentist, physician, and veterinary practices, had sales approaching $9 billion and employed nearly 16,000 people. The company had experienced impressive growth under the leadership of Stanley Bergman and his executive... View Details
Keywords: Leadership Development; Strategy Execution; Performance Management; Corporate Culture; Social Responsibility; Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Joint Ventures; Partnerships; Health Care Industry; Healthcare Logistics Industry; Competitive Advantage; Strategy; Leadership; Global Strategy; Selection and Staffing; Management Style; Organizational Culture; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Health Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; China; Europe; United States
- January 2014
- Teaching Plan
MedImmune Ventures
By: Richard Hamermesh and Andrew Otazo
"MedImmune Ventures" highlights the problems faced by corporate venture capital firms, the challenges of investing in early-stage healthcare, and the difficulty of operating in distant markets. View Details
- December 2013 (Revised August 2015)
- Case
Viva Macau (A)
By: Dante Roscini and G. A. Donovan
A fast-growing Macau-based airline backed by private US investors faces a dramatic expropriation in the wake of the first change of head of government since the former Portuguese colony became a Special Administrative Region of China. The case allows students to... View Details
- November 2013 (Revised May 2023)
- Case
Valuing Yahoo! in 2013
By: Luis M. Viceira and Atul Khosla
In late July 2013, Danielle Engle, Managing Director of Clairemont Capital, was contemplating what to do about a large investment her fund had in the stock of Yahoo! Inc. In mid-2012, Clairemont had invested nearly $75M in Yahoo! after the tech company settled a highly... View Details
- November 2013 (Revised January 2015)
- Case
Restructuring JAL
By: Malcolm Baker, Adi Sunderam, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno
Hideo Seto, the recently appointed chairman of the investment committee of the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation, must decide whether to push JAL group, Japan's largest airline, into bankruptcy or to act as a sponsor in an out-of-court restructuring. The... View Details
- November 2013
- Supplement
Arch Wireless, Inc. (B): Food for Vultures
By: Stuart C. Gilson
In 2002, a hedge fund investor acquires the distressed bank debt of a bankrupt wireless paging company and converts his holding into common stock of the reorganized entity. Determining his likely return from this investment is challenging, given that the entire... View Details
- November 2013
- Article
Investment Cycles and Startup Innovation
By: Ramana Nanda and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf
We find that VC-backed firms receiving their initial investment in hot markets are more likely to go bankrupt, but conditional on going public are valued higher on the day of their IPO, have more patents, and have more citations to their patents. Our results suggest... View Details
- October 2013
- Case
Advantage Partners: Dia Kanri (A)
By: Paul A. Gompers, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno
This case explores the opportunity to purchase the condominium management business of a distressed real estate developer by Advantage Partners, a leading Japanese private equity firm. The case explores investment structuring, bidding strategy, and the ability of... View Details
Keywords: Private Equity; LBO; Roll-up; Investment; Financing; Condominium Management; Leveraged Buyouts; Asia
- October 2013
- Supplement
Advantage Partners: Dia Kanri (B)
By: Paul A. Gompers, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno
This case presents the final decision and outcomes for the (A) case. View Details
- October 2013 (Revised October 2017)
- Case
Bridges Ventures
By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Sarah Appleby
Bridges Ventures, a UK-based impact investor with double-digit returns on its investments, is reflecting on its social impact and pondering its future course. View Details