Publications

March 2025
Case

Mobvoi's Path Through Market Challenges and Business Reinvention

By: Paul A. Gompers and Shu Lin

Founded in 2012, Mobvoi evolved through multiple transformations—from AI-driven voice technology to smart wearables and later AI-generated content. Backed by major investors, the company navigated shifts in strategy while facing two failed IPO attempts. As market... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; AI and Machine Learning; Transformation; Initial Public Offering; Business Strategy; Technology Industry; China

October 2010 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Charter Communications Bankruptcy

By: Paul A. Gompers and Emily Weisburst

Charter Communications' bankruptcy presents an opportunity for some of its creditors to convert their debt holdings into equity. A mutual fund manager must determine how to maximize his debt investment in Charter given the restructuring and decide whether to... View Details

Keywords: Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Private Equity; Borrowing and Debt; Investment; Financial Strategy; Financial Services Industry

2021
Working Paper

Stock Investors' Returns Are Exaggerated

By: Jesse M. Fried, Paul Ma and Charles C.Y. Wang

The stock market generates less wealth than it appears. We show that total shareholder return (TSR), the standard measure of stock investor performance, substantially exaggerates returns earned by these investors in aggregate, and thus by most investors. The main... View Details

Keywords: All-shareholder Returns; Capital Flows; Dividend Reinvestment; Equity Premium; Total Shareholder Returns; Stocks; Investment Return; Market Timing

SSRN

12 Apr 2011
First Look

First Look: April 12

Abstract This book presents new research on the historical impact of globalization on Argentina and Chile. The authors focus on the role of entrepreneurs and firms. The Role of Venture Capitalists in the Acquisition of Private Companies Authors: View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Dec 2001
News

BOOK: The Money of Invention

by Paul A. Gompers and Josh Lerner (Harvard Business School Press ) Did venture capital cause the explosion in innovation in the last thirty years, or did innovation jump-start... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information; Finance; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

May 2013
Article

The Stock Selection and Performance of Buy-Side Analysts

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul Healy, George Serafeim and Devin Shanthikumar

Prior research on equity analysts focuses almost exclusively on those employed by sell-side investment banks and brokerage houses. Yet investment firms undertake their own buy-side research and their analysts face different stock selection and recommendation incentives... View Details

Keywords: Buy-side Analysts; Sell-side Analysts; Stock Recommendations; Recommendation Optimism; Recommendation Performance; Investment Recommendations; Conflicts Of Interest; Financial Markets; Financial Institutions; Financial Services Industry; United States

Web

The Challenge of Color - The High Art of Photographic Advertising - Baker Library | Bloomberg Center

base colors that enhanced the dramatic quality of the resulting prints. 9 Photograph conservator Paul Messier contends that in terms of reproduction, “many of the ‘artistic’ attributes permitted by the new... View Details

Web

Environmental Quality - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

impact profitability and its relationship to sustainable practices. Publications & Resources Jun 2010 Chair’s Paper The Porter Hypothesis at 20: Can Environmental Regulation Enhance Innovation & Competitiveness? by Stefan Ambec, Mark A.... View Details

January 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

CloudEats: Revolutionizing the Cloud Kitchen in Southeast Asia

By: Paul A. Gompers and Adina Wong

Philippines-headquartered cloud kitchen CloudEats harbored the ambition of becoming the largest cloud kitchen in Southeast Asia, but it was considering several strategic paths forward. View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; E-commerce; Disruptive Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Competitive Advantage; Food and Beverage Industry; Philippines; Southeast Asia

February 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Cable Data Systems

By: Paul W. Marshall and Todd H Thedinga

Describes the operating challenges of Cable Data Systems (CDS), a minority-owned cable installation company with a dual mission of maximizing profits and providing employment opportunities to minorities in urban markets. Following the merger of two cable installation... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Employment; Forecasting and Prediction; Urban Scope; Cost Management; Infrastructure; Labor Unions; Demand and Consumers; Demographics; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Boston

Find at Harvard

Article

The Stock Selection and Performance of Buy-Side Analysts

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy, Georgios Serafeim, Devin Shanthikumar and Gui Yang

We examine the selection and performance of stocks recommended by analysts at a large investment firm relative to those of sell-side analysts during the period mid-1997 and 2004. The buy-side firm's analysts issued less optimistic recommendations for stocks with larger... View Details

Keywords: Buy-side Analysts; Sell-side Analysts; Stock Recommendations; Recommendation Optimism; Recommendation Performance; Investment Recommendations; Conflicts Of Interest; Financial Markets; Financial Institutions; Stocks; Financial Services Industry; United States

February 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Taffi: Entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia

By: Paul A. Gompers and Fares Khrais

Taffi was a tech-enabled fashion styling startup founded by Shahad Geoffrey in Saudi Arabia in 2020. Within three years of operating, Geoffrey had pivoted the business multiple times. In 2023, Geoffrey was attempting the business’s most ambitious pivot yet, shifting... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; AI and Machine Learning; Fashion Industry; Technology Industry; Saudi Arabia; Arabian Peninsula

11 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 11

consumers large discounts when they prepay for participating firms' goods and services. Within a model of repeat experience good purchase, we examine two mechanisms by which a discount voucher service can benefit affiliated firms: price... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Social Enterprise - Faculty & Research

Purchase Related Bergquist, Ann-Kristin, and Geoffrey Jones. "Institutional Entrepreneurship and Climate Change." Chap. 1 in Climate Change and Business: Historical Perspectives , edited by Teresa da Silva Lopes, View Details

October 2013
Module Note

Note on LBO Capital Structure

By: Victoria Ivashina, Paul A. Gompers, Paul A. Gompers, Victoria Ivashina, Joris Van Gool and Joris Van Gool

This note discusses the capital structure often found in LBO transactions. Although the specifics of each capital structure vary case by case, in any given year, there is a great deal of similarity in the capital structure of these buyouts. These similarities exist... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Capital Structure

01 Mar 2003
News

Three Appointed to Endowed Professorships

Paul A. Gompers, Roy and Elizabeth Simmons Professor of Business Administration Paul Gompers specializes in research on financial issues related to start-up, high growth, and... View Details

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

July – August 2008
Article

Buy-Side vs. Sell-Side Analysts' Earnings Forecasts

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy and Craig James Chapman

We compare the earnings forecast performance of analysts at a large buy-side firm to that of sell-side analysts. Our tests show that the buy-side firm analysts make more optimistic and less accurate forecasts than their counterparts on the sell-side. These performance... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Business Earnings; Forecasting and Prediction; Performance Effectiveness

Find at Harvard

Web

Marketing Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

industry," voted on by female sports and entertainment industry professionals, in 2018. Sunil Gupta : Finalist for the 2018 Paul E. Green Award from the Journal of Marketing Research for "Does 'Liking' Lead... View Details

2017
Working Paper

Diversity in Innovation

By: Paul A. Gompers and Sophie Q. Wang

In this paper we document the patterns of labor market participation by women and ethnic minorities in venture capital firms and as founders of venture capital-backed startups. We show that from 1990-2016 women have been less than 10% of the entrepreneurial and venture... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Gender; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital