Publications

August 2007 (Revised February 2008)
Case

Pinnacle Ventures

By: Michael J. Roberts, William A. Sahlman and Elizabeth Kind

Describes a prospective "venture debt" loan to a new venture from the perspective of Patrick Lee, a principal at Pinnacle Ventures. Forces students to grapple with the nature of financial risk in the start-up firm and assess the prospective risks and returns to a... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Venture Capital; Investment Return; Business Startups; Financial Services Industry

March 2001 (Revised March 2003)
Case

Chase's Strategy for Syndicating the Hong Kong Disneyland Loan (B)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Michael Kane

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Working Capital; Project Finance; Relationships; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Tourism Industry; Hong Kong

Web

T. J. Dermot Dunphy | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

International Robert Higgins Highland Capital Richard Jenrette Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Dean LeBaron Batterymarch Erling Lorentzen Aracruz Dan Lufkin Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Thomas Murphy Capital... View Details

Web

Scott D. Cook | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

International Robert Higgins Highland Capital Richard Jenrette Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Dean LeBaron Batterymarch Erling Lorentzen Aracruz Dan Lufkin Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Thomas Murphy Capital... View Details

Web

John Whitehead | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

International Robert Higgins Highland Capital Richard Jenrette Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Dean LeBaron Batterymarch Erling Lorentzen Aracruz Dan Lufkin Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Thomas Murphy Capital... View Details

01 Dec 1998
News

Scott P. Mason Remembered

Scott Mason, an expert in capital markets, valuation, and financial systems and an HBS faculty member for seventeen years, died of cancer in September. He was 50 years old. "Scott was a good friend, valued colleague, and mentor to many of... View Details

11 Jun 2012
News

Starting Up in Brazil

Keywords: Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores; Retail Trade; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Retail Trade

04 Oct 2022
Blog Post

Climate Stories Episode #10: Amanda Li (MBA 2018): Speeding Climate Change Solutions Through Project Finance Efficiencies

dire implications for the world We need to dramatically accelerate deployment of capital into sustainable infrastructure projects.” – Amanda Li (MBA 2018), COO and co-founder of Banyan Infrastructure Amanda Li grew up fascinated with the... View Details

October 2007 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Barclays Global Investors and Exchange Traded Funds

By: Luis M. Viceira and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Provides an overview of the Exchange Traded Funds (EFT) industry and highlights the leadership role that Barclays Global Investors (BGI) has played in this developing asset class. BGI launched its first ETFs under the iShares brand name in 2000, and by mid-2007 BGI was... View Details

Keywords: History; Venture Capital; Asset Management; Stocks; Investment Funds; Leading Change; Expansion; Competitive Strategy; Capital Markets; Global Strategy; Financial Strategy; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Asia; Europe

October 1995 (Revised June 1996)
Case

ABN-AMRO Holding N.V. and Smit Transformatoren N.V. (A)

By: Peter Tufano

ABN-AMRO, the largest bank in the Netherlands, must decide whether to take any action in regard to the poor performance of Smit Transformatoren, a Dutch transformer manufacturer. ABN-AMRO acted as lead underwriter for the IPO of Smit, and also released a favorable... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Capital Markets; Investment Banking; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Netherlands

January 1994
Case

National Convenience Stores, Inc.

By: Steven R. Fenster, Stuart C. Gilson and Roy Burstin

National Convenience Stores seeks to emerge from Chapter 11. Central to the nature of the reorganization plan is the company's determining enterprise value. The various constituencies (secured debt, unsecured debt, etc.) will seek to find an enterprise value that... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Valuation; Restructuring; Strategic Planning; Borrowing and Debt; Food and Beverage Industry; Texas

January 2023
Teaching Note

MicroStrategy’s Investment in Bitcoin

By: C. Fritz Foley, Celine Chammas and Donal O'Cofaigh

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 222-048. View Details

Keywords: Bitcoin; Corporate Strategy; Acquisition; Investment Portfolio; Capital Structure; Equity

2020
Working Paper

Immigration Policy Levers for U.S. Innovation and Startups

By: William R. Kerr and Sari Pekkala Kerr

Immigrants account for about a quarter of U.S. invention and entrepreneurship despite a policy environment that is not well suited for these purposes. This chapter reviews the U.S. immigration policy environment that governs how skilled migrants move to America for... View Details

Keywords: Invention; Innovation; Startups; High-tech; Immigration; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Business Startups; Venture Capital; United States

SSRN

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Article

Managing the Unknowable: The Effectiveness of Early-stage Investor Gut Feel in Entrepreneurial Investment Decisions

By: Laura Huang and Jone L. Pearce

Using an inductive theory-development study, a field experiment, and a longitudinal field test, we examine early-stage entrepreneurial investment decision making under conditions of extreme uncertainty. Building on existing literature on decision making and risk in... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Risk and Uncertainty; Decision Making; Emotions; Performance Effectiveness

Find at Harvard

24 May 2018
News

Meet a VC: David Hall of Revolution

21 Jun 2017
News

Andreessen Horowitz Gets a New General Partner in Jorge Conde

06 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

Should Entrepreneurs Pitch Products or Ideas for Products?

In trying to secure financial backing for a new product, independent innovators generally face the question of how much to invest in development before showing it around. Should they create, say, a working prototype (and maybe even generate sales) or pitch the idea for... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Motion Pictures & Video; Entertainment & Recreation; Banking

August 2022 (Revised November 2022)
Supplement

Altos Ventures (B)

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

In December 2021, Han Kim, Anthony Lee, and Ho Nam reflected on how far they had come since 2012. This B case provides an update on Altos Ventures’ decision-making and performance since the events presented in the A case. View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Venture Capital; Investment Portfolio; Partners and Partnerships

March 2010 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Disruptive IPOs? WR Hambrecht & Co.

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Tara Donovan

Bill Hambrecht faces a dilemma: should he accept a high profile client for his online Dutch auction IPO? Though it would be viewed as a real coup, what would accepting the business mean to WR Hambrecht? Should he seek other high profile clients like this, or should he... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Initial Public Offering; Disruptive Innovation; Auctions; Online Technology; Financial Services Industry; San Francisco