Publications

October 2011 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Yale University Investments Office: February 2011

By: Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

David Swensen and the Investments Office staff must decide whether to continue to allocate the bulk of the university's endowment to illiquid investments—hedge funds, private equity, real estate—given the impact of the recent market turmoil. The case explores the risks... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Resource Allocation; Investment; Venture Capital; Investment Funds; Property; Private Equity

July 2009
Teaching Note

TH!NK: The Norwegian Electric Car Company (TN)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III

Teaching Note for [808070]. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Market Entry and Exit; Brands and Branding; Environmental Sustainability; Product Launch; Auto Industry; Norway

January 2001 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Return Logic, Inc. (B)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Michele Lutz

Highlights how multiple rounds of financing work in practice and illustrates how terms agreed to in early-stage financing deals have an impact in later financing rounds. Also illustrates ethical issues that entrepreneurs confront as they build "dot-com" ventures. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment Funds; Private Equity; Internet and the Web; Negotiation Deal; Entrepreneurship; Ethics

November 2023 (Revised December 2023)
Background Note

Talent Incubator Rankings

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

In 2023, The Official Board surveyed 853 executives on the topic of talent incubators/academy companies. Executives were asked to list the top three academy companies within their function, industry, and country. They were also asked: what practices differentiate these... View Details

Keywords: Talent Development And Retention; Hiring; Performance Management; Human Resource Management; Human Capital; Human Resources; Performance; Talent and Talent Management; Organizational Culture

2023
White Paper

Managing Workforce Risk in an Era of Unpredictability and Disruption

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Michael Griffiths, Reem Janho, Michael Stephan, Carey Oven, Keri Calagna, George Fackler, Robin Jones, Sue Cantrell and Zac Shaw

Keywords: Employees; Human Capital; Risk and Uncertainty; Talent and Talent Management

Read Now

November 1990 (Revised June 1993)
Case

FMC Corp.: A Recapitalization

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Julie H. Hertenstein

A proposed recapitalization will use new debt to pay a large dividend to some shareholders in return for a reduction of their voting power. The result will be a highly leveraged financial structure and negative owners' equity. Students can trace the effects of proposed... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Financial Strategy; Asset Management; Financial Management; Business Conglomerates; Borrowing and Debt; Business and Shareholder Relations; Capital Structure; Equity; Private Equity; Chemical Industry

Find at Harvard

March 2010
Teaching Note

Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd (Abridged) (TN)

Teaching Note for [810114]. View Details

Keywords: Agreements and Arrangements; Venture Capital; Lawfulness; Attorney and Client Relationships; Employees; Resignation and Termination

November 1997 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Interactive Minds (A)

By: William A. Sahlman, Michael J. Roberts and Christina L. Darwall

The efforts of two recent Harvard Business School graduates to start a venture capital/consulting firm focused on opportunities related to the Internet are recounted. Raises the question of what the nature of this opportunity is, how well-positioned the protagonists... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Internet and the Web; Market Entry and Exit; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Consulting Industry

Career Coach

Manuel Llano

Manuel wants to help students explore the opportunities available to HBS students in the Investment Banking, Investment Management, and Venture Capital industries. Manuel can provide insights into how these industries recruit, what the... View Details

20 Oct 2009
First Look

First Look: October 20

of a front page per month, or 37% of a standard deviation in our measure of coverage. The results control for newspaper, month, and individual corruption scandal fixed effects. Download the paper from SSRN ($5): http://papers.nber.org/papers/w15402 PublicationsGlobal... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Fast Answer

Home sales (existing)

and 3,000+ submarkets. Real Capital Analytics (RCA) records over $40 trillion in commercial property transactions tied to 200,000+ investor and lender profiles, spanning diverse property types and global markets. The National... View Details

James B. Duke

Five principal cigarette manufacturing companies merged to form American Tobacco in 1890 with Duke as head and with a capitalization of $25 million. In 1895, Duke began an aggressive campaign to absorb companies making other kinds of... View Details

Keywords: Food & Tobacco

30 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 30

foreign capital may encourage entrepreneurship. We find that entrepreneurial activity is higher in industries that have a large share of foreign firms in vertically linked industries. Second, we find that entrepreneurial activity in... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Five Questions for Paul Gompers and Josh Lerner

HBS Working Knowledge contributor Carol Elsen conducted an e-mail interview with Paul Gompers and Josh Lerner about their new book, The Money of Invention: How Venture Capital Creates New Wealth. Elsen: Since the dot-com implosion, how... View Details

Keywords: by Carol Elsen; Financial Services

March 2020 (Revised June 2022)
Case

GreenLight Fund

By: Brian Trelstad, Julia Kelley and Mel Martin

As Tara Noland, the Executive Director (ED) of GreenLight Cincinnati, reflected on her first few years on the job. Noland had delivered on what she had been hired to do in the city: work with leading philanthropists and nonprofit executives to use data and evidence to... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy; Venture Philanthropy; Replication; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Venture Capital; Social Issues; Decision Making; Analytics and Data Science; Cincinnati