Publications

Research Summary

Overview

By: Andy Wu

How can technology entrepreneurs build competitive advantage from the ground up? Professor Andy Wu conducts scholarly research and develops course materials that document how technology entrepreneurs can (1) organize for innovation to create new market opportunities... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Growth Management; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Technology Platform; Technological Innovation; Information Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Video Game Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States; China; Southeast Asia; South Asia

13 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

The Color of Private Equity: Quantifying the Bias Black Investors Face

Black venture capital and growth investors have a much harder time getting funding than white investors, because—despite efforts to bring more racial diversity to financial services—private equity’s... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds; Financial Services

January 2014
Case

Maricopa, Inc.: Finding the Right Treatment for Growth

By: William A. Sahlman, Thomas R. Eisenmann, Joseph B. Fuller and Shikhar Ghosh

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

Keywords: Business Startups; Financial Condition; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Financing and Loans; Expansion; Planning; Fashion Industry; Iowa

September 2005 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Spyder Active Sports - 2004

By: Belen Villalonga, Dwight B. Crane and James Quinn

David Jacobs founded a high-end ski apparel company in 1978. He successfully built and grew the company, establishing a major international brand that appealed to ski racers and other active skiers. In 1995, he sought external financing to support further growth of the... View Details

Keywords: Private Ownership; Private Equity; Financial Liquidity; Business Exit or Shutdown; Valuation; Brands and Branding; Wealth; Family Business; Financing and Loans; Globalization; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry; Colorado

March 2022
Supplement

Pakistan Rising: Bazaar's Growth Story (B)

By: Paul A. Gompers and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in January 2022 as Hamza Jawaid and Saad Jangda, co-founders of Bazaar technologies (Bazaar), the Pakistani high growth B2B e-commerce marketplace, are looking over the performance of the newly launched “buy now, play later” feature. The traction looks... View Details

Keywords: B2B; Business Model; Emerging Markets; For-Profit Firms; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Value Creation; Globalization; Competition; Expansion; Profit; Resource Allocation; Diversification; Corporate Strategy; Pakistan

03 Apr 2019
Book

Fintech's Game-Changing Opportunities for Small Business

firm with fewer than 500 employees, in my book I focus on three kinds: sole proprietorships, Main Street businesses, and suppliers. All three groups seek financing from loans and have traditionally used banks as their source. Of the 30... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Banking; Financial Services

08 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: Nov. 8

which a Nash equilibrium exists while the set of Nash equilibria coincides with the solutions of the system of first order condition equations, a property of essential importance to empirical studies. This condition specifies that in every market segment, each View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Is Groupon Good for Retailers?

spas, paintball parties, etc., at a major markdown—up to 90 percent off a retailer's usual prices—and then requiring the retailer to pay a big chunk of the voucher revenues back to Groupon. But the Chicago-based firm is "the fastest... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising; Technology

02 Aug 2006
Research & Ideas

Investor Protection: The Czech Experience

victory from the Czech Republic. Železný somehow managed to turn the loss to his advantage and ended up a member of the European Parliament. For business managers and investors, the story of TV Nova and the joint venture that spawned it... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Media & Broadcasting; Entertainment & Recreation

14 Dec 2010
First Look

First Look: Dec. 14

increased during the 2007-2009 financial crisis. Diversification gave firms both financing and investment advantages. First, conglomerates became significantly more leveraged relative to comparable focused firms. Second, conglomerates'... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2008 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Sam Barnstable and Blue Sky Radio Devices

By: Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

These three short vignettes depict investment professionals considering difficult financings for companies in their portfolios. For one reason or another, each company has under-performed expectations. Should the protagonist recommend that the firm participate or not,... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Strategy; Investment Portfolio; Performance

17 Jan 2023
In Practice

8 Trends to Watch in 2023

As 2023 begins, businesses and employees face an uncertain economy and labor market, as the twin dilemmas of inflation and interest rates weigh on forecasts. Harvard Business School faculty share the top trends that they believe will shape the workplace and markets... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

24 Sep 2024
Research & Ideas

Why Small Businesses Deserve More Credit

It’s Wall Street doctrine that small firms struggle to raise capital at reasonable rates and are often rejected for credit lines and loans because banks think their risk profile is too high. “If you really... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services; Banking

March 2022
Case

The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program: 2009-2021

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Julia Kelley

In December 2021, more than a decade after its founding, Goldman Sachs’s 10,000 Small Businesses program was still going strong — and the firm now needed to evaluate potential program modifications to reach a wider group of small business owners. Launched in the... View Details

07 Dec 2009
Research & Ideas

Government’s Positive Role in Kick-Starting Entrepreneurship

market, then investors, employees, intermediaries such as law firms and data providers, and the wider capital markets are likely to be knowledgeable about the venturing process... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

16 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 16, 2019

case:https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/216047-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 818-115 Urban Us Shaun Abrahamson and Stonly Baptiste aimed to invest in what they called "urbantech superheroes." At Urban Us, the seed-stage urban technology-focused View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

September 2008 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Khosla Ventures: Biofuels Strategy

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

By 2008, a number of the firm's early cleantech investments were showing promise, and the companies were starting to need significantly more money to create the massive scale required in the energy sector. As Khosla thought about the hundreds of millions of dollars... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Marketing; Entrepreneurial Finance; New Product Development; Partnerships; Entrepreneurial Management; Venture Capital; Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Investment Funds; Environmental Sustainability; Product Development; Biotechnology Industry; Financial Services Industry