Publications

December 30, 2013
Other Article

Fundamental Purpose

By: Michael E. Porter

Directing capital to companies that can use it productively is ultimately the most profound benefit investors can have on society. View Details

Keywords: Investing; Strategy; Investment; Society

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04 Dec 2013
Research & Ideas

The Fantastic Horizon: How to Invest in a New City

and Syria; to the south is the booming Saudi Arabian metropolis of Jeddah. In front of me is a vast expanse of sand and hope, fueled by a huge investment towards a brand new city the size of Washington, DC. I can see intermittent puffs... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Construction; Real Estate

2017
Report

The American Angel: The First In-Depth Report on the Demographics and Investing Activity of Individual American Angel Investors

By: Laura Huang, Andy Wu, Min Ju Lee, Jiayi Bao, Marianne Hudson and Elaine Bolle

Early-stage financing from angel investors is critical to the success of high-growth startups. Recent estimates suggest that annual US angel investment activity may total as much as $24 billion each year, contributing to the growth and success of more than 64,000... View Details

Keywords: Angel Investors; Geography; Risk; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Demographics; Geographic Location; Decision Making; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; United States

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August 2022
Supplement

Sweet Teez Bakery: Projecting the Dough’s Rise Financial Supplement

By: Emily R. McComb, Mel Martin and Amy Klopfenstein

Abstract: In 2021, the HBS Impact Investment Fund student team met with entrepreneur Teresa Maynard, who had applied for a $25,000 impact investment loan. The students thought the former Harvard Data Scientist’s bakery business, Sweet Teez Bakery, showed promise.... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investment; Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Finance; Investment; Goods and Commodities; Financial Reporting; Small Business; Food and Beverage Industry; Massachusetts; United States

Awards

Fama-DFA Prize for the Best Paper Published in the Journal of Financial Economics in the Areas of Capital Markets and Asset Pricing

By: Josh Lerner

Second Place Winner of the 2009 Fama-DFA Prize for the Best Paper Published in the Journal of Financial Economics in the Areas of Capital Markets and Asset Pricing for his paper with Paul Gompers, Anna Kovner, and David Scharfstein, "Venture Capital Investment... View Details

04 Oct 2021
Blog Post

Tapping into “Nontraditional” Private Equity and Venture Capital Talent at HBS

Recruiters reviewing hundreds of resumes for highly coveted roles in private equity and venture capital will often see candidates with backgrounds in banking and investing. This training and experience provides candidates with excellent... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Venture Capital

11 May 2021
Blog Post

IPO or M&A? How Venture Capital Shapes a Startup's Future

says, noting most VC investments don’t yield any return. “‘So, if we get an acquisition that returns any money, that's actually amazing.’ Maybe we don't talk about it as much, but that's really important. Often, that's a better outcome... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital / Private Equity

24 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Something Ventured, Something Gained: A European View of Venture Capital

Venture capital is a tale of two continents, HBS professor Josh Lerner (coauthor of the book The Venture Capital Cycle) explained in his opening remarks at a Global Alumni Conference panel titled... View Details

Keywords: by James E. Aisner; Financial Services

01 Apr 2001
News

Big Deals: Project Finance Helps Mitigate Risk in Large-Scale Investments

ability to benefit had Iridium been successful. This ability to facilitate large, risky investments without jeopardizing sponsoring companies is one of the main benefits of project finance.” More and more firms are turning to project... View Details

September 2010
Teaching Note

Acumen Fund: Measurement in Impact Investing (TN) (A) and (B)

By: Alnoor Ebrahim

Teaching Note for 310011 and 310017. View Details

Keywords: Projects; For-Profit Firms; Networks; Health Care and Treatment; Performance Evaluation; Investment Portfolio; Asset Pricing; Competition; Multinational Firms and Management; Venture Capital; Investment Return; Poverty; Financial Services Industry; Kenya

October 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Case

Social Finance, Inc.

By: Shawn Cole and Fanele Mashwama

This case begins in February 2019 as Tracy Palandjian, co-founder and CEO of Social Finance Inc., prepares for a board meeting that will determine the future strategy of the social enterprise. Social Finance is a non-profit in the impact investment space founded in... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investment; Social Enterprise; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions

September 3, 2020
Article

How to Measure a Company’s Real Impact

By: Ronald Cohen and George Serafeim

Impact transparency will reshape capitalism. By shifting the pursuit of profit away from negligently creating problems to purposefully creating valuable solutions for the world, it will redefine success, so that its measure is not just money, but the positive impact we... View Details

Keywords: Impact; Impact Investing; Impact Measurement; Impact Investment; Impact Investment Funds; Accountability; Accounting Information; Corporate Performance; Sustainability; Social Impact; Capitalism; Accounting; Corporate Accountability; Performance; Measurement and Metrics; Social Enterprise; Society

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2017
Working Paper

Optimal Tilts: Combining Persistent Characteristic Portfolios

By: Malcolm Baker, Ryan Taliaferro and Terry Burnham

We examine the optimal weighting of four tilts in US equity markets from 1968 through 2014. We define a “tilt” as a characteristic-based portfolio strategy that requires relatively low annual turnover. This is a continuum, with small size, a very persistent... View Details

Keywords: Risk Anomaly; Beta; Capital Asset Pricing Model; Factor Investing

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2009
Working Paper

Do Analysts Follow Managers Who Switch Companies? An Analysis of Relationships in the Capital Markets.

By: Francois Brochet, Gregory S. Miller and Suraj Srinivasan

We examine the importance of professional relationships developed between analysts and managers by investigating analyst coverage decisions in the context of CEO and CFO moves between publicly listed firms. We find that top executive moves from an origin firm to a... View Details

Keywords: Business and Stakeholder Relations; Capital Markets; Decisions; Managerial Roles; Financial Institutions; Investment; Market Participation; Public Ownership; Relationships

SSRN

October 2012 (Revised April 2017)
Case

Brazil's Enigma: Sustaining Long-Term Growth

By: Laura Alfaro, Hilary White and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason

Over the past decade, Brazil's future as a leading world economic power appeared certain. An expanding middle class and commodity boom had fueled economic growth, with GDP growth hitting a peak of 7.5% in 2010. However, the high cost of conducting business in Brazil,... View Details

Keywords: Capital Controls; Inflation; Exchange Rates; Stimulus; Competitiveness; Productivity Growth; Foreign Investment; Infrastructure; Inflation and Deflation; Currency Exchange Rate; Brazil

February 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Sandlands Vineyards

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Gregory Saldutte

Approximately 80% of the wineries in the U.S. break even 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

01 Dec 2020
What Do You Think?

How Can We Get Companies to Invest More in Low-Wage Workers?

economic equality fosters economic growth, primarily by encouraging consumption among people who spend a lot and invest modestly. For example, the study concludes that the US pays handsomely for the low growth that comes with income and... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

February 2018 (Revised August 2018)
Case

OpenInvest

By: Shawn Cole, Boris Vallée and Nicole Tempest Keller

Founded by a team of hedge fund and NGO alumni, OpenInvest launched its platform in 2015 to enable retail investors to tailor their portfolios to their personal values in an automated way, for instance by screening out weapons manufacturers stocks or overweighting... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Impact Investing; Investment Portfolio; Customization and Personalization; Technological Innovation; Social Issues; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Financial Services Industry