Publications

May 2008 (Revised June 2009)
Case

Finansbank 2006

By: C. Fritz Foley and Linnea Meyer

How do financial policy requirements and benefits of ownership concentration affect the need for and process of corporate restructuring? This case provides students with an opportunity to analyze the restructuring of a Turkish multinational business group by way of a... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Capital Budgeting; Agreements and Arrangements; Valuation; Turkey; Greece

May 2004 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Sarvega

By: Paul A. Gompers and Vanessa del Valle Broussard

David Cowan, general partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, has taken the lead on Sarvega, a Bessemer-backed company that was recently orphaned by the departure of one of Bessemer's other general partners. Cowan must decide whether to reinvest in Sarvega and, if so,... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Venture Capital; Investment; Governance Compliance; Resignation and Termination; Negotiation Deal; Partners and Partnerships; Information Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

April 2000
Case

Financing of Project Achieve, The (A)

By: Mihir A. Desai

An entrepreneur is forced to analyze the tradeoffs between different equity providers through a detailed analysis of venture financing terms and cash flow forecasts. The founder of a Web-based IMS for schools must negotiate a term sheet, determine funding needs, value... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Forecasting and Prediction; Venture Capital; Cash Flow; Equity; Negotiation Deal; Valuation

August 1996
Case

ThermoLase

By: William A. Sahlman and Andrew S. Janower

John Hansen, CEO of ThermoLase, must develop a plan of action to exploit the company's new development-stage revolutionary hair removal technology with negligible revenues and a $500 million market capitalization. This nascent public Thermo Electron spin out company... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Business Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Plan; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

Web

Judging | New Venture Competition

capital firms in the US. Also included are some of the most successful Harvard Business School (HBS) entrepreneurs from top companies. Criteria Judging criteria is focused on Customer Value Proposition which includes size of market,... View Details

01 Jun 2012
News

Jump-Start

using the Lean Startup methodology, for the 19 cash awards given out this year. There were also 12 venture capital firms (listed below) that stepped up to help fund the program run by HBS’s Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship. All the... View Details

Keywords: contests; Finance

Web

HBS - Financials | Statement of Activity & Cash Flows

Cash Available from Capital Activities $107 $107 $72 Capital Expenses $(31) $(43) $(22) Change in Capital Project-Prefunding $2 10 (14) Use of Gifts for View Details

07 Apr 2023
Blog Post

Career Advice: Pursuing a Dual Degree

companies and venture capital investors to hearing stories of different founders, was important to me. The program is tailored for technical entrepreneurship and exploring the various issues entrepreneurs can be faced with. I don't know... View Details

25 Mar 2022
Blog Post

ClimateCAP 2022

During the Venture Capital (VC) and Entrepreneurship session, speakers from Equilibrium, Unreasonable Group, Lowercarbon Capital, and Project Canary touched on the importance of systems change and tackling climate from multiple angles.... View Details

Web

Private Equity Finance - Course Catalog

“home-run” deals to troubled investments. (The course does not cover venture capital or real estate segments of PE.) Through these case studies, the goal of the class is to understand when and how private equity firms consistently add... View Details

July 1991 (Revised December 2018)
Compilation

Slavery

By: Thomas K. McCraw

Explores the general history of slavery in the United States. Through detailed exhibits and a text consisting of excerpts from six first-hand observations of slavery, this note is designed to present the ethics, economics (especially the perverse incentive systems),... View Details

Keywords: Slavery; Human Capital; History; Ethics; Social Issues; Motivation and Incentives; United States

24 Oct 2013
News

Harvard MBAs to Crowdfund Local Business

Keywords: crowdsourcing

October 2019 (Revised February 2025)
Case

A Conversation with Ellen J. Kullman, Chairman & CEO of DuPont, 2009-2015

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Ellen J. Kullman, the retired Chairman and CEO of DuPont, describes how she guided the storied science and technology company through a contentious proxy battle with activist investor Trian Partners, which acquired DuPont shares in 2013 and sought to break up the... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Capital Structure; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Institutional Investing; Leadership; Leadership Style; Management; Transformation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Chemical Industry; United States

January 2011 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott

One of the leading publishers of textbooks and other educational materials for the U.S. K-12 educational instruction market has suffered a dramatic decline in sales and profits in the wake of the 2008-2009 financial market crisis and economic recession, and is now... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Capital Structure; Financial Crisis; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Publishing Industry; Massachusetts

January 2000 (Revised April 2000)
Case

AsiaMail.com: What's in a Name?

By: Myra M. Hart and Sharon Peyus

Three founders of an international Internet company (e-mail-based marketing) struggle with naming the company. As they prepare to invest more than $10 million of first-round venture funding in advertising and marketing, they search for a name that will have power and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Venture Capital; Brands and Branding; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Advertising; Marketing; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry; Asia

Find at Harvard

January 1986 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Horizon Group

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of a situation confronting the co-founder of a company planning to produce software for microcomputers. The company has just completed raising money from some wealthy investors by forming an R&D Limited Partnership. Development of the program (an... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Venture Capital; Partners and Partnerships; Business Plan; Outcome or Result; Research and Development; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Information Technology Industry

February 2017 (Revised January 2022)
Supplement

Bankruptcy at Caesars Entertainment (B)

By: Kristin Mugford

Keywords: Gaming; Chapter 11; Fraudulent Conveyance; Apollo; TPG; Bankruptcy; Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Private Equity; Financial Management; Lawsuits and Litigation; Negotiation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Las Vegas

June 2007 (Revised June 2011)
Case

TA Energy (Turkey): A Bundle of International Partnerships

By: William R. Kerr, Daniel J. Isenberg and Ant Bozkaya

Stimulates discussion of entrepreneurship in emerging economies, especially for entrepreneurs returning to their home countries to start businesses with global technologies and partners. Focuses on the partnership tensions between global firms and local... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Developing Countries and Economies; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Globalized Firms and Management; Partners and Partnerships; Conflict and Resolution; Turkey

January 2005 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Kohler Co. (A)

Kohler Co., best known for its plumbing fixtures, is a large, private family firm. As part of a recapitalization aimed at preserving family ownership of Kohler Co., nonfamily shareholders, who held 4% of common stock, were required to sell their shares to the company.... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Capital Structure; Cash Flow; Stocks; Price; Family Ownership; Business and Shareholder Relations; Valuation