Publications

10 Oct 2013
News

Business Leaders as our Missing Middle?

February 2024
Teaching Note

TimeCredit

By: Emanuele Colonnelli, Raymond Kluender and Shai Benjamin Bernstein

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 824-139. TimeCredit is an artificial intelligence (AI) startup that is developing large language models (LLMs) to generate accounting memos. The case follows Ndonga Sagnia, a Gambian Harvard Business School MBA student with an accounting... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; AI and Machine Learning; Entrepreneurial Finance; Identity; Partners and Partnerships; Technology Industry

October 2024
Case

GLIN Impact Capital

By: Ethan Rouen and Akiko Saito

In 2024, the co-founders of the venture capital fund GLIN Impact Capital face a critical inflection point as they consider launching a second, significantly larger impact investment fund in Japan. Founded in 2021 by the three Harvard Business School alumni, GLIN is one... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment Funds; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Power and Influence; Japan

15 Feb 2013
News

M&A Mavens: No Reason for Uncertainty

Victoria Ivashina

Victoria Ivashina is the Lovett-Learned Professor of Finance and Head of the Finance Unit at Harvard Business School. She also serves as a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a Research Fellow at the Center for Economic Policy... View Details

Keywords: banking; federal government; financial services; investment banking industry; private equity (LBO funds); private equity (other)

06 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

Updating a Classic: Writing a Great Business Plan

ventures are "born global": They seek to address a global market and attract funding from global investors. Should a business plan be tailored in some way for a global audience? A: We live in a... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

September 2016 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Western Technology Investment

By: Ramana Nanda, William A. Sahlman and Nicole Keller

Based in Portola Valley, California, Western Technology Investment (WTI) specialized in a hybrid form of debt and equity financing for early-stage companies. Like traditional venture capital and private equity firms, WTI raised funds from institutional investors and... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Equity; Finance; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; California

May 1999 (Revised December 2007)
Case

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Development Strategy

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

Despite revenues in excess of $93 million in 1998, world-renowned Dana-Farber Cancer Institute constantly faces an operating shortfall and looks to its highly successful development office to help cover the deficit. The development office raises money annually (with a... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Capital; Revenue; Growth and Development Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Nonprofit Organizations

October 2002 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Aspen Aerogels

By: William A. Sahlman and Taslim Pirmohamed

Describes a newly formed manufacturer of insulation materials. The company has developed and patented a new insulation material that can be used in a wide range of markets. Capital must be raised to finance building a manufacturing facility and fund early market... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Patents; Production; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Construction Industry; Manufacturing Industry

July 1996
Case

Edmund's--www.edmunds.com

Edmund's publishes an automobile price guide in books (600,000 units per year) and over the Internet (16,000 users a day and growing). The site can be visited at www.edmunds.com. In the marketplace, it makes money selling books. In the marketspace, they make their... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Digital Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Information Publishing; Information Industry; Auto Industry

April 2006 (Revised August 2007)
Case

CircleLending, Inc. 2006

CircleLending, an innovative start-up, offered individuals the ability to set up and manage informal loans made between relatives and friends. The company must decide which market segment to focus on and then how much money to raise from investors. CircleLending is a... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Financing and Loans; Personal Finance; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Markets; Social and Collaborative Networks

2020
Article

Mutual Funds: Skill and Performance

By: Jonathan B. Berk, Jules van Binsbergen and Max Miller

The authors summarize the recent literature on mutual fund manager skill and performance. They discuss the latest contributions in the field and reinterpret them through the lens of the rational expectations framework (efficient market hypothesis). They further discuss... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Financial Management; Performance Evaluation; Measurement and Metrics

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16 Mar 2021
News

How Microsoft stays on Washington’s good side

01 Oct 2010
News

'Delay and pray' won't work for commercial real estate

07 Dec 2011
News

Cautious capitalism

August 2024 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Discerene Group: Long-Term Public-Markets Investing

By: Luis M. Viceira and Brent Schwarz

This case discusses active investing based on fundamental valuations and price distortions created by market events, and whether contractual terms between investment managers and their investors can help align incentives between long-term investors and active managers.... View Details

Keywords: Financial Strategy; Investment Funds; Valuation; Financial Markets; Financial Services Industry; Connecticut

June 2009 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Cirque du Soleil -- The High-Wire Act of Building Sustainable Partnerships

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Maxime Aucoin

The case describes the history and business model of Cirque du Soleil (CdS). The case allows for a rich discussion and analysis of Cirque du Soleil's business model with an emphasis on how it interacts with that of MGM Mirage. Le Cirque and MGM's business models... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Investment; Profit; Globalized Markets and Industries; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Partners and Partnerships; Trust; Entertainment and Recreation Industry