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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(3,802)
- People (13)
- News (802)
- Research (2,191)
- Events (7)
- Multimedia (18)
- Faculty Publications (1,400)
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- 2017
- Working Paper
Innovation Policies
By: Ramana Nanda and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf
Past work has shown that failure tolerance by principals has the potential to stimulate innovation, but has not examined how this affects which projects principals will start. We demonstrate that failure tolerance has an equilibrium price ― in terms of an investor's... View Details
Keywords: Innovation; Investing; Abandonment Option; Failure Tolerance; Venture Capital; Attitudes; Investment; Failure; Innovation and Invention
Nanda, Ramana, and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf. "Innovation Policies." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 13-038, October 2012. (Revised March 2017. forthcoming in the AiSM Special issue on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Platforms.)
- November 2022 (Revised September 2023)
- Technical Note
SAFE Notes: An Introduction
By: Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui and Jo Tango
A SAFE ("Simple Agreement for Future Equity") is a security increasingly used in seed financings. Not equity or debt, SAFEs allow founders to "get capital now and sell equity later." This Technical Note covers: 1. What is a SAFE and why use one?, 2. The key concepts... View Details
Rodríguez Arregui, Álvaro, and Jo Tango. "SAFE Notes: An Introduction." Harvard Business School Technical Note 823-026, November 2022. (Revised September 2023.)
- December 2013
- Article
Leviathan as a Minority Shareholder: Firm-level Implications of State Equity Purchases
By: Carlos F. K. V. Inoue, Sergio G. Lazzarini and Aldo Musacchio
In many countries, firms face institutional voids that raise the costs of doing business and thwart entrepreneurial activity. We examine a particular mechanism to address those voids: minority state ownership. Due to their minority nature, such stakes are less affected... View Details
Keywords: Business Groups; Development Banks; State Capitalism; Performance; State Ownership; Brazil
Inoue, Carlos F. K. V., Sergio G. Lazzarini, and Aldo Musacchio. "Leviathan as a Minority Shareholder: Firm-level Implications of State Equity Purchases." Academy of Management Journal 56, no. 6 (December 2013).
- 2010
- Chapter
Property Rights for Foreign Capital: Sovereign Debt and Private Direct Investment in Times of Crisis
By: Louis T. Wells
Keywords: Property; Rights; International Finance; Capital; Sovereign Finance; Foreign Direct Investment; Financial Crisis
Wells, Louis T. "Property Rights for Foreign Capital: Sovereign Debt and Private Direct Investment in Times of Crisis." Chap. 12 in The Yearbook on International Investment Law and Policy 2009-2010, edited by Karl Sauvant, 477–504. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
- Forthcoming
- Article
Disclosure Standards and Communication Norms: Evidence of Voluntary Sustainability Standards as a Coordinating Device for Capital Markets
By: Khrystyna Bochkay, Jeffrey Hales and George Serafeim
In this paper, we examine how the development of voluntary sustainability standards has affected the nature of information covered in conference calls. Using industry-specific dictionaries of sustainability terms contained in the disclosure standards developed by the... View Details
Keywords: Voluntary Disclosure; Accounting Standards; Sustainability Reporting; Sustainability Standards; ESG; ESG Disclosure; Accounting; Corporate Disclosure; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Standards; United States
Bochkay, Khrystyna, Jeffrey Hales, and George Serafeim. "Disclosure Standards and Communication Norms: Evidence of Voluntary Sustainability Standards as a Coordinating Device for Capital Markets." Review of Accounting Studies (forthcoming). (Pre-published online March 17, 2025.)
- November 2013
- Supplement
Arch Wireless, Inc. (B): Food for Vultures
By: Stuart C. Gilson
In 2002, a hedge fund investor acquires the distressed bank debt of a bankrupt wireless paging company and converts his holding into common stock of the reorganized entity. Determining his likely return from this investment is challenging, given that the entire... View Details
- January 2014
- Teaching Plan
MedImmune Ventures
By: Richard Hamermesh and Andrew Otazo
"MedImmune Ventures" highlights the problems faced by corporate venture capital firms, the challenges of investing in early-stage healthcare, and the difficulty of operating in distant markets. View Details
Keywords: MedImmune Ventures; NeuProtect; Corporate Venture Capital; Ron Laufer; Australia; Starfish Ventures; AstraZeneca; MEVE; Healthcare; Startup; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Health Industry; Australia; United States
Hamermesh, Richard, and Andrew Otazo. "MedImmune Ventures." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 814-039, January 2014.
- November 2016
- Article
Corporate Sustainability: First Evidence on Materiality
By: Mozaffar Khan, George Serafeim and Aaron Yoon
Using newly available materiality classifications of sustainability topics, we develop a novel dataset by hand-mapping sustainability investments classified as material for each industry into firm-specific sustainability ratings. This allows us to present new evidence... View Details
Keywords: Sustainability; Investments; Corporate Social Responsibility; Accounting; Corporate Reporting; Regulation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Investment; Corporate Governance
Khan, Mozaffar, George Serafeim, and Aaron Yoon. "Corporate Sustainability: First Evidence on Materiality." Accounting Review 91, no. 6 (November 2016): 1697–1724.
- December 2020
- Article
Stock Market Returns and Consumption
By: Marco Di Maggio, Amir Kermani and Kaveh Majlesi
This paper employs Swedish data containing security level information on households' stock holdings to investigate how consumption responds to changes in stock market returns. We exploit households’ portfolio weights in previous years as an instrument for actual... View Details
Keywords: Capital Gain; Dividend Income; Consumption; Near-rational Behavior; Investment Return; Household; Spending; Behavior
Di Maggio, Marco, Amir Kermani, and Kaveh Majlesi. "Stock Market Returns and Consumption." Journal of Finance 75, no. 6 (December 2020): 3175–3219. (DFA Distinguished Paper Prize.)
- 2023
- Working Paper
ESG: From Process to Product
By: George Serafeim
ESG measurement, analysis, management, and communication is a process that the financial industry has turned into a product, resulting in many investment funds using the ESG label. This has caused confusion, generating demand for a framework that defines... View Details
Keywords: ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; ESG Ratings; ESG Reporting; Investment Fund; Investment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Financial Services Industry
Serafeim, George. "ESG: From Process to Product." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-069, May 2023.
- 2022
- Working Paper
The Transformation of Self Employment
By: Innessa Colaiacovo, Margaret Dalton, Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr
Over the past half-century, while self-employment has consistently accounted for around one in ten of the United States workforce, its composition has changed. Since 1970, industries with high startup capital requirements have declined from 53% of self-employment to... View Details
Keywords: Self-employment; Startup Investment; Occupational Choice; Financing; Small Business; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Financing and Loans
Colaiacovo, Innessa, Margaret Dalton, Sari Pekkala Kerr, and William R. Kerr. "The Transformation of Self Employment." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 22-051, January 2022.
- March 2018 (Revised March 2018)
- Supplement
Sandlands Vineyards
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Greg Saldutte
Approximately 80% of the wineries in the US breakeven or lose money. An even greater percentage lose money on an economic basis (i.e., after a charge for the cost of equity). Tegan Passalacqua is a successful, young, Californian winemaker who specializes in making... View Details
Keywords: Wine; Winery; Vineyard; Market Attractiveness; Porter's 5 Forces; Capital Investment; Industry Attractiveness; Performance Analysis; Napa Valley; Agriculture; Entrepreneurship; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Vertical Integration; Segmentation; Food; Supply Chain; Industry Structures; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; California; Napa Valley
- January 2020
- Case
SK Group: Social Progress Credits
By: George Serafeim, Ethan Rouen and David Freiberg
SK Group was one of the largest companies South Korea. A family-run conglomerate consisting of around 120 subsidiaries and employing more than 100,000, SK was tightly knit into the fabric of Korean society. SK viewed their future success as contingent upon the strength... View Details
Keywords: Impact; Impact Investing; Impact Measurement; Social Value; Social Development; Conglomerates; Measurement Of Purpose; ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Capital Markets; Innovation; Environmental Impact; Collaboration; Social Enterprise; Social and Collaborative Networks; Social Issues; Measurement and Metrics; Value Creation; Cooperation; Environmental Sustainability; Employment; Accounting; Energy Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Chemical Industry; South Korea
Serafeim, George, Ethan Rouen, and David Freiberg. "SK Group: Social Progress Credits." Harvard Business School Case 120-071, January 2020.
- September 2018 (Revised January 2019)
- Case
Sobha Group Real Estate: Backward Integration for Quality
By: John Macomber and Alpana Thapar
From humble beginnings in Kerala, India, Mr. PNC Menon built a reputation for quality, detail, and trustworthiness, earning him major construction commissions in the Gulf region. This paved the way for venturing into real estate development in Dubai, UAE. Striving to... View Details
Keywords: Real Estate; Backward Integration; Land Acquisition; Raising Capital; Construction; Family Business; Decision Making; Joint Ventures; Quality; Real Estate Industry; Construction Industry; India; Middle East; Dubai
Macomber, John, and Alpana Thapar. "Sobha Group Real Estate: Backward Integration for Quality." Harvard Business School Case 219-034, September 2018. (Revised January 2019.)
- September 2013 (Revised November 2013)
- Case
AngelList
By: Ramana Nanda and Liz Kind
In early 2010, Naval Ravikant and Babak Nivi posted a list of angel investors on the Venture Hacks blog as a resource for founders looking for funding prior to seeking venture capital. The list quickly evolved into AngelList, a separate matchmaking platform for... View Details
Keywords: Angel Investors; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurial Finance; Finance; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Financial Services Industry; United States
Nanda, Ramana, and Liz Kind. "AngelList." Harvard Business School Case 814-036, September 2013. (Revised November 2013.)
- May 2012 (Revised October 2012)
- Supplement
H-Soft (B-1): Siddharth Kapoor
By: Ramana Nanda
Siddharth Kapoor, the Founder and CEO of H-Soft Mumbai, reflected on his meetings as he walked out of VC Ventures' offices in Mumbai. After a few months of intensely pitching his startup to several different investors, he finally had a term sheet in hand. Despite this... View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Venture Capital Term Sheet; India; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Investment; Contracts; Partners and Partnerships; India
Nanda, Ramana. "H-Soft (B-1): Siddharth Kapoor." Harvard Business School Supplement 812-169, May 2012. (Revised October 2012.)
- Research Summary
How Does Foreign Direct Investment Promote Economic Growth? Exploring the Effects of Financial Markets on Linkages (with Areendam Chanda, Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan and Selin Sayek)
By: Laura Alfaro
The empirical literature finds mixed evidence on the
existence of positive productivity externalities in the host country
generated by foreign multinational companies. We propose a novel
mechanism, which emphasizes the role of local financial markets in
enabling... View Details
- May 2012 (Revised October 2012)
- Case
H-Soft Mumbai
By: Ramana Nanda
Siddharth Kapoor, the Founder and CEO of H-Soft Mumbai reflected on his meeting as he walked out of VC Ventures' offices in Mumbai. After a few months of intensely pitching his startup to several different investors, he finally had a term sheet in hand. Despite this... View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Venture Capital Term Sheet; India; Business Startups; Investment; Venture Capital; Contracts; Partners and Partnerships; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation Offer; Decision Making
Nanda, Ramana. "H-Soft Mumbai." Harvard Business School Case 812-168, May 2012. (Revised October 2012.)
- 2025
- Working Paper
With a Little Help from My Family: Informal Startup Financing
By: Brian K. Baik, Johan Ludvig S. Karlsen and Katja Kisseleva
Using Norwegian administrative data, we identify family equity investments in startups
and examine their effects on investor returns and firm behavior. Informal investors
earn lower returns than external individuals, and the firms they back are less
likely to secure... View Details
Keywords: Early Stage Finance; Informal Investment; Household Finance; Risk Taking; Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurship; Personal Finance; Family and Family Relationships; Business Startups; Investment; Norway
Baik, Brian K., Johan Ludvig S. Karlsen, and Katja Kisseleva. "With a Little Help from My Family: Informal Startup Financing." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 25-053, April 2025.