Publications

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2022
Working Paper

Do Startups Benefit from Their Investors' Reputation? Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

By: Shai Benjamin Bernstein, Kunal Mehta, Richard Townsend and Ting Xu

We analyze a field experiment conducted on AngelList Talent, a large online search platform for startup jobs. In the experiment, AngelList randomly informed job seekers of whether a startup was funded by a top-tier investor and/or was funded recently. We find that the... View Details

Keywords: Startup Labor Market; Investors; Randomized Field Experiment; Certification Effect; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Human Capital; Job Search; Reputation

SSRN

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2008
Working Paper

The Contingent Nature of Public Policy and Growth Strategies in the Early Twentieth-Century U.S. Banking Industry

By: Christopher Marquis and Zhi Huang

While effects of public policy are one of the foundations of organizational theory, less explored is how these effects may depend on other external environmental factors. We focus on how policy is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition to understand the growth... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Business History; Growth and Development Strategy; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; United States

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28 Apr 2021
Blog Post

Alumni Spotlight: Cissy Chen (MBA 2019)

wanted to leverage my knowledge & experience in finance to focus on making a difference in my home region of Asia through impact investing. In China, for example, the sector lacks quite a bit with regards to human capital and... View Details

November 1998 (Revised April 1999)
Case

Wireless Telecom Negotiation

By: Jay O. Light

A venture capital/private equity fund is preparing to negotiate with the two parties in a prospective PCS joint venture: the entrepreneur and AT&T Wireless. The negotiation will decide how equity and control are shared in the venture. View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Governance Controls; Negotiation Deal; Wireless Technology; Telecommunications Industry

November 2019
Supplement

Gillette: Cutting Prices to Regain Share

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

After losing market share to low-priced competitors such as Harry’s and Dollar Shave Club for several years, Gillette decided to fight back by cutting prices on its razors and blades in April 2017. Bonnie Herzog, an equity analyst at Wells Fargo, must assess how the... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Business Strategy; Competition; Price; Public Equity; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

September 2009
Supplement

Consumer Lending in Japan: Citi CFJ (B)

By: J. Gunnar Trumbull and Akiko Kanno

As the regulatory environment for consumer lending evolves, CFJ has to decide how to respond. View Details

Keywords: Personal Finance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Risk Management; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; Japan

01 Mar 2008
News

Alumni Books

capital, ways of valuing early-stage ventures, and techniques for negotiating deals. Filled with case studies, charts, and exercises, the book explains how to develop a financing map; how to determine the amount of capital to raise and... View Details

Keywords: Noel Capon; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

18 Mar 2020
News

Leading Change

International Finance Corporation; Sarah Wright Meyers (MBA 1997), Founder & Managing Partner, Hull Street Energy; and Matt Sonnesyn (Harvard Kennedy School, 2002), VP of Infrastructure, Energy, and Environment, View Details

September 2001 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Eskimo Pie Corporation (Abridged)

By: Richard S. Ruback

In early 1991, Reynolds Metals, the makers of aluminum products, decided to sell its holding of Eskimo Pie, a marketer of branded frozen novelties. Reynolds had an offer from Nestle to acquire Eskimo Pie. However, Reynolds decided instead to make an initial public... View Details

Keywords: Food; Initial Public Offering; Cost of Capital; Valuation; Business Divisions; Brands and Branding; Food and Beverage Industry

01 Dec 2006
News

Faculty Books

Invisible Engines by David S. Evans, Andrei Hagiu, and Richard Schmalensee (MIT Press) Assistant Professor Hagiu and his coauthors offer detailed studies of the personal computer, video-game console, PDA, smart mobile phone, and digital media software-platform... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

December 2003 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Rein Chemical Company: Specialty Division

By: Francis Aguilar

This case describes corporate management's recent discovery of widespread unethical pricing transactions in one division and key managers' different views on how to respond. Students are asked to evaluate management's position and decide who should do what to resolve... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Price; Ethics; Business Divisions; Chemicals; Crisis Management; Chemical Industry

January 2003 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Newport Creamery (A)

By: Paul Marshall and Todd Thedinga

Describes the operating challenges of Newport Creamery, a Rhode Island-based chain of ice cream restaurants. Profiles the company's transition from longtime family ownership to a real estate developer, the developer's expansion strategy, and the company's subsequent... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Crisis Management; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Food and Beverage Industry; Rhode Island

October 2021 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Chia Network: Reimagining Programmable Money

By: William A. Sahlman and George Gonzalez

Chia Network developed a novel blockchain platform that was more eco-friendly, decentralized, and scalable than Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other blockchains. Now, company leadership must decide how to scale the startup and prioritize various partnerships, use cases, and... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

01 Sep 2005
News

Taking Flight

calls, and range maps.” Meanwhile, Thayer and his primary partner at Gateway had decided to part ways, leading Thayer to sell his majority stake in the firm. The financial freedom allowed him to focus full-time on what was beginning to look like a serious View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Finance; Finance; Finance; Finance; Finance

October 1998 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Kmart Corp.

Describes a situation in which a company (Kmart) refinances a portion of its debt. Used to illustrate how the asset and liability sides of the balance sheet are linked. View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Accounting; Borrowing and Debt; Retail Industry

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August 2015 (Revised July 2017)
Technical Note

Hotel Industry

By: Arthur I. Segel, Daniel Woodbury and Michael Horowitz

This note teaches the critical elements to understand the fundamentals of hotel investing, ownership, and management. It outlines the basics of hotel segmentation, operations, ownership, management, and valuation. The changing impact of technology is also addressed. View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Investment; Ownership; Accommodations Industry

October 2010 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Bessemer Trust: Guardians of Capital

By: Tom Nicholas and David Chen

Henry Phipps, Jr. made his fortune in the steel industry alongside one of America's most celebrated entrepreneurs—Andrew Carnegie. His wealth was administered in the form of trusts, which he hoped would provide a stream of income for his family and their descendants... View Details

Keywords: Wealth; Asset Management; Family Business; Business History; Income; Entrepreneurship; Capital; United States