Publications

July 2008 (Revised November 2012)
Supplement

UpDown: Confidential Instructions for GEORG

By: Noam Wasserman and Deepak Malhotra

Michael Reich is having severe doubts about how he split the equity with his co-founders two months ago, when they completed a one-page "November Agreement." Since then, Michael has found an angel investor and has worked non-stop on the business, while one co-founder... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Participants; Agreements and Arrangements; Business Startups; Ownership Stake

July 2008 (Revised November 2012)
Supplement

UpDown: Confidential Instructions for MICHAEL

By: Noam Wasserman and Deepak Malhotra

Michael Reich is having severe doubts about how he split the equity with his co-founders two months ago, when they completed a one-page "November Agreement." Since then, Michael has found an angel investor and has worked non-stop on the business, while one co-founder... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Participants; Agreements and Arrangements; Business Startups; Ownership Stake

12 Jan 2016
First Look

January 12, 2016

the funding cutoff and find that these angel investors have a positive impact on the growth, performance, and survival of firms as well as their follow-on fundraising. The positive impact of View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

2014
Other Teaching and Training Material

Entrepreneurship Reading: Financing Entrepreneurial Ventures

By: William R. Kerr, Ramana Nanda and James McQuade

"Financing Entrepreneurial Ventures" introduces students to the key issues involved in the financing of entrepreneurial enterprises. The Reading begins by examining how business models shape external financing requirements. It then contrasts the choice to bootstrap... View Details

30 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 30

suggest that the bundle of inputs that angel investors provide have a large and significant impact on the success and survival of start-up ventures. Download the paper:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2020
Working Paper

Determinants of Early-Stage Startup Performance: Survey Results

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

To explore determinants of new venture performance, the CEOs of 470 early-stage startups were surveyed regarding a broad range of factors related to their venture’s customer value proposition, product management, marketing, technology and operations, financial... View Details

Keywords: Startups; Survey Research; Performance Analysis; Entrepreneurship; Performance; Analysis; Business Startups; Failure; Surveys

SSRN

Read Now

January 2001
Case

Valuing Project Achieve

By: Mihir A. Desai and Kathleen Luchs

Project Achieve is a start-up providing information management solutions for schools. Its founders see a need for software both to manage the volumes of information necessary to administer a school and to connect parents, teachers, and students in a more effective way.... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Valuation; Venture Capital; Cost of Capital; Cash Flow; Forecasting and Prediction

September 2015
Case

GovDelivery

By: Mitchell Weiss

Is government the biggest, worst customer in the world? And is that a reason for venture investors to back companies that sell to government or to stay away? It had been seven years since Scott Burns joined his friend Zach Stabenow to get a company called GovDocs off... View Details

Keywords: GovDelivery; Public Entrepreneurship; B2G; Business-to-Government; Scott Burns; Entrepreneurship; Government Administration; Venture Capital; Information Technology Industry; Public Administration Industry; Web Services Industry; Minnesota; United States

10 Nov 2003
Research & Ideas

The Hard Numbers on Social Investments

the team was able to draw some conclusions about how the companies performed individually and as a hypothetical portfolio. They were also able to make some observations about how investor behavior contributed to the success of individual... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

December 2018 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Bulb 2015: Foundation

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In late August 2015, Amit Gudka and Hayden Wood, co-founders of Bulb, Ltd (Bulb), were ready to offer affordable renewable energy to the United Kingdom’s 27 million households. They hoped to capitalize on the hundreds of thousands of customers switching their energy... View Details

02 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Is 'Gut Feel' a Good Reason to Invest in a Startup?

overly risky.” Unlike most situations where making an important decision based on gut feel is seen as a negative, venture capitalists and angel investors often brag about the wisdom of their midsections.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

02 Oct 2007
First Look

First Look: October 2, 2007

Inner Angels and Demons: What We Have Learned About Want/Should Conflicts and How That Knowledge Can Help Us Reduce Short-Sighted Decision Making Authors:Katherine L. Milkman, Todd Rogers, and Max H. Bazerman Abstract Although observers... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 2020
Case

Minerva 2004: Discovery

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

After nearly five years in operation, Doctor Cynthia Bamdad, founder and CEO of Minerva Biotechnologies Corporation (Minerva), was reflecting on the company’s next steps. In a few short years, she and her small team had managed to develop a nanoparticle process for... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Biotechnology Industry

March 2023
Case

FinTunes, Inc., Board of Directors

By: Lynn S. Paine and Jennifer Fonstad

The board of FinTunes, Inc., a start-up aimed at helping musicians distribute their work and manage their finances, must decide among three candidates to serve as the company’s first independent director. The terms of FinTunes’ last round of financing provided that the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Music Industry; Los Angeles; California

February 2024
Case

FIGS: Scrubbing the Status Quo

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Nicole Tempest Keller

In October 2023, FIGS had revolutionized the medical scrubs industry with its fashionable and functional designs, but the venture was at a critical juncture. The digitally native vertical brand (DNVB) had gone public in a successful IPO in 2021 and reached $500 million... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Channels; Corporate Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; United States; California; Los Angeles; Europe; Canada