Publications

24 Apr 2014
News

Corporate venture funds invested wisely can propel a company forward

opportunities and rapid decline. Lerner, author of The Architecture of Innovation (HBS Press, 2012), also found that corporate venture funds invested in start-up companies provide an alternative to in-house R&D departments—and the... View Details

2012
Working Paper

The First Deal: The Division of Founder Equity in New Ventures

By: Thomas F. Hellmann and Noam Wasserman

This paper examines the division of founder shares in entrepreneurial ventures, focusing on the decision of whether or not to divide the shares equally among all founders. To motivate the empirical analysis we develop a simple theory of costly bargaining, where... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Equity

Read Now

25 Jan 2024
Blog Post

Climate Stories Episode #15: Hilton Augustine III on Financing Climate Ventures

the cutting edge. However, venture capital is only a piece of the puzzle. We invest relatively small amounts of capital into solutions that can be revolutionary, but may not be... View Details

July 2021
Teaching Note

Eaton Corporation: Portfolio Transformation and the Cost of Capital

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 221-006 and 221-070. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Cost of Capital; Corporate Finance; Value; Valuation; Industrial Products Industry; United States; Denmark; Republic of Ireland

February 2000 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Butler Capital Partners and Autodistribution: Putting Private Equity to Work in France

Describes a proposed buyout transaction of Autodistribution, an entrepreneurial firm that is the leading car-parts distributor in France. The deal became feasible because of a failed takeover battle for Autodistribution's parent company. Private equity investor Butler... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Valuation; Executive Compensation; Entrepreneurship; Distribution Industry; Auto Industry; France

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

29 Mar 2017
News

Effie Epstein Hired As COO of Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures

23 Jun 2014
News

In Venture Capital, Birds of a Feather Lose Money Together

28 Jan 2016
News

A Female Venture Capitalist Shares Her Secrets For Getting Funded

Keywords: women in business; Finance

June 2006 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Teena Lerner: Dividing the Pie at Rx Capital (A)

By: Boris Groysberg, Victoria Winston and Robin Abrahams

Teena Lerner started her own hedge fund firm in 2001 after nearly 20 years as a star biotechnology analyst and hedge fund manager. After the start-up phase, her firm became highly profitable. In 2004, however, one of her four analysts lost a lot of money for the firm.... View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Investment Funds; Performance; Business Startups; Compensation and Benefits; Corporate Finance; Financial Services Industry

December 2006 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

The managing partners of two private equity firms are hoping to forestall a third bidding round for a target company, the European beverage division of Cadbury Schweppes. As they wait to meet with the CEO, they revisit their assumptions on the deal and review the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Negotiation Deal; Negotiation Process; Partners and Partnerships; Valuation; Europe

01 Mar 2023
News

Step Change

had long been part of the cultural mindset. Today’s startup scene in Egypt is hopping. Venture capital funding reached $491 million in 2021, with a compounded annual growth rate of 117 percent between 2017... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; photographed by Abdelrahman Gabr – Koree; entrepreneurship; women; venture capital; Egypt; developing economies; Finance

June 2022
Teaching Plan

GreenLight Fund

By: Brian Trelstad and Mel Martin

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 320-053. 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... View Details

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