Publications

October 1987 (Revised May 1993)
Case

National Demographics & Lifestyles (A)

Describes National Demographics and Lifestyles (NDL), a Colorado-based company that compiles a database from product "warranty registration cards" and sells mailing lists from this database. The company has burned through more rounds of financing than ever intended,... View Details

Keywords: Demographics; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Management; Marketing; Information Industry; Colorado

10 Mar 2021
News

Chasing the Silver Tsunami

businesses that could be created and, instead, maybe the business that I should create is an investment firm to promote founders entering the space and innovation in the sector.” She discovered that investor Alan Patricof, founder of Apax Partners and venture View Details

Keywords: Lisa Scanlon Mogolov; illustration by Dan Page; Nursing and Residential Care Facilities; Health, Social Assistance

Web

Capitalism: Past, Present, Future - Course Catalog

HBS Course Catalog Capitalism: Past, Present, Future Course Number 1153 Professor Sophus A. Reinert Fall; Q1Q2; 3.0 credits 28 sessions Exam or paper Few forces have shaped the world over the past millennium more than capitalism has, yet... View Details

March 2017 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Floodgate: On the Hunt for Thunder Lizards

By: Rory McDonald, Alix Burke, Emma Franking and Nicole Tempest

Founded in 2008, Floodgate pioneered the “micro-VC” category, a new type of investment firm that raised smaller funds and made earlier, smaller investments in technology startups than traditional venture-capital firms. By 2015, Floodgate had raised three funds totaling... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Business Models; Angel Investors; Crowdfunding; Incubators; Accelerators; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Information Technology; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Competitive Strategy

March 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Advising on Currency Risk at ICICI Bank

In March 2003, a client approached the Markets Advisory Group at ICICI Bank, India's second largest bank, about a hedging transaction. The hedge involved multiple interest rates and currencies. Shilpa Kumar, head of the Markets Advisory Group, has to put together a... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Currency Exchange Rate; Capital Markets; Investment Funds; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; India

April 2004 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Precise Software

By: Paul A. Gompers and Sara Bergson

Yossi Sela, general partner at Gemini Venture capital, considers a new investment in Precise Software. The firm is at a crisis point, and Sela needs to decide whether he will fire the firm's chief executive officer. Conflicts between the American CEO and the Israeli... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment; Resignation and Termination; Crisis Management; Managerial Roles; Conflict and Resolution; Israel; United States

01 Dec 2011
News

Uncle Sam’s Business Man

Barry Johnson (MBA ’89) has over 20 years of business experience as an entrepreneur and corporate executive with media giants such as the Walt Disney Company, Bertelsmann, and Sony Music Corporation. With expertise in public-private partnerships, he’s now putting his... View Details

22 Sep 2015
News

Investing in Scalable Impact on K-12 Education

Vivian Wu (MBA 2000) manages Zuckerberg Education Ventures, an impact investing initiative that supports education entrepreneurs who are developing scalable businesses that will improve learning outcomes and increase access to high-quality education for large numbers... View Details

23 Jun 2014
News

In Venture Capital, Birds of a Feather Lose Money Together

15 Jun 2020
News

Alumni and Faculty Books for June 2020

featuring fascinating historical detail about each route, Seven Climbs is a compelling account of Sherwood’s efforts to answer a much-debated question: Which are the world’s greatest climbs? Faculty Books Capitalism at Risk: Rethinking... View Details

Andrew W. Mellon

Mellon took over his family’s small private bank and turned it into one of the largest sources of venture capital in American history. Mellon played a substantial role in supplying capital for expanding... View Details

Keywords: Finance

Fast Answer

Betas

the ticker symbol (e.g., IBM) then click on "equity," type "beta," then click on GO. For historical averages, change the date range. To change the default index, change the mnemonic for index. Capital IQ Data on... View Details

September 2020
Case

Disrupting Justice at RightNow: Persevere, Pivot or Perish

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Amir Reza Rezvani

The case examines the focus of an early stage company, and how an unexpected external incidence can threaten or void the business model. It encompasses issues such as defining and pivoting a business model, organizational requirements for a pivot, investor relations,... View Details

Keywords: Legal Aspects Of Business; Startup; Teams; Pivot; Financing; Entrepreneurship; Law; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Financing and Loans; Business Model; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Legal Services Industry; Germany

September 1990 (Revised June 1994)
Case

Catawba Industrial Co.

By: Francis Aguilar

A department general manager has to decide whether or not to add a lightweight compressor to the line, what price to charge, and what volume to produce. The analysis requires maximizing contribution in a situation where one factor is constrained. As such, it takes into... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Capital Budgeting; Business Earnings; Cost Accounting; Cost Management; Asset Pricing