Publications

January 1996 (Revised November 1997)
Case

Weston Presidio Offshore Capital: Confronting the Fundraising Challenge

By: Josh Lerner

Weston Presidio Capital encounters substantial difficulties while raising its first fund. The incentives and roles of investment advisors ("gatekeepers") pension funds and consultants are explored. The relationship with lead investors is considered. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Investment Funds; Markets; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Motivation and Incentives; Financial Services Industry

February 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Hardina Smythe and the Healthcare Investment Conundrum

By: Matthew Rhodes-Kropf, Ann Leamon and Lisa Strope

Hardina Smythe, a recent MBA graduate, has just joined a top-tier venture capital firm in the difficult environment of late 2010. Her first assignment is to evaluate three different deals and make recommendations to the partners. Each potential investment has strengths... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Asset Management; Private Equity; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Financial Services Industry

May 2020 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Valuing Peloton

By: E. Scott Mayfield

Peloton Interactive, a well-known venture-capital-backed unicorn in the connected fitness space, recently had gone public with a market capitalization of over $8.0 billion. However, in the weeks following its public debut, Peloton’s stock price had fallen by over 25%.... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Public Equity; Initial Public Offering; Disruptive Innovation; Business Strategy; Valuation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

December 2015 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Corning, 2002

By: Malcolm Baker

Corning, with large investments in fiber optic technology, was hit particularly hard by the collapse of the telecommunications industry in 2001. With over $4 billion in debt, the firm's survival appears to rest on raising additional equity capital. James Flaws, the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Strategy; Financial Condition; Financial Instruments; Valuation; Capital; Public Equity; Stock Shares; Business or Company Management; Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Industrial Products Industry

08 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: Nov. 8

just after the SEC's announcement. Our results are consistent with the view that financial markets placed a positive value on shareholder access, as implemented in the SEC's August 2010 rule. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-052.pdf Private View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 1988
Case

Harris Seafoods Leveraged Buyout

By: William A. Sahlman

Describes set of issues confronting Alison Lassiter, who is trying to help Charlie Harris arrange a leveraged buyout of the shrimp company he runs, a division of a publicly traded company, Katy Industries. Lassiter has prepared a memorandum discussing and analyzing the... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Equity; Cost vs Benefits; Negotiation Tactics; Negotiation Preparation; Financial Management; Strategy; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Planning; Food and Beverage Industry; Industrial Products Industry

Find at Harvard

Web

Publications - Faculty & Research

Goes to Sea By: Vikram S Gandhi and David Allen Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 325-013 View Details Keywords: Communication Technology ; Green Technology ; Finance ; Venture Capital ; Private Equity ;... View Details

05 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: January 5

become the hubs of the network. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-043.pdf Private Equity and Industry Performance Authors:Shai Bernstein, Josh Lerner, Morten Sørensen, and Per Strömberg Abstract The growth of the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

17 Sep 2024
Blog Post

The International Experience at HBS: Zoe Sun (MBA 2024)

Zoe Sun (MBA 2024) is a recent graduate from China. Prior to HBS, she worked at an Asia-focused private equity fund in Hong Kong. At HBS, she was Co-Chief Admissions Ambassador and Social Chair for Greater China Club. She is a recipient... View Details

30 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 30

offered high returns over the past decade. Download the paper from SSRN ($5): http://papers.nber.org/papers/w15014 Buy Local? The Geography of Successful and Unsuccessful Venture Capital Expansion Authors:Henry Chen, Paul Gompers, Anna... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 2021 (Revised May 2023)
Case

Project Maji: Pricing Water in Sub-Saharan Africa

By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini, Dilyana Karadzhova Botha and Esel Çekin

In July 2021, Sunil Lalvani, founder and CEO of Project Maji, a non-profit social enterprise headquartered in Dubai that had already provided sustainable, clean water solutions to 80,000 people living in rural communities across Ghana and Kenya, was facing an important... View Details

Keywords: Water; Pricing; Nonprofit Organizations; Projects; Price; Decision Making; Social Enterprise; Growth and Development Strategy; Equity; Green Technology; Social and Collaborative Networks; Africa; Dubai

October 2000 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Harvard Management Company and Inflation-Protected Bonds, The

By: Luis M. Viceira

In March 2000, the board of The Harvard Management Co. (HMC) approved significant changes in the policy portfolio determining the long-run allocation policy of the Harvard University endowment. These changes included a sharp reduction of the allocation to U.S. equities... View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Investment Portfolio; Investment Funds; Asset Management; Corporate Governance; Capital Markets; Financial Services Industry; United States

May 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Lincoln Financial Meets the Financial Crisis

By: Robert C. Pozen and Peter Goodspeed Spring

In March of 2009, Lincoln Financial Group's CEO Dennis Glass was facing a difficult decision as to how he would replenish his company's capital, which could quickly fall to dangerously low levels as a result of the financial crisis. Though the cost of raising capital... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Financial Crisis; Capital; Private Equity; Crisis Management; Business and Government Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Insurance Industry

25 Jun 2013
First Look

First Look: June 25

Publications 2006 pub Leviathan Evolving: New Varieties of State Capitalism in Brazil and Beyond By: Musacchio, Aldo, and Sergio G. Lazzarini Abstract—In this book we describe the transformation of state View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

January 2016 (Revised November 2019)
Case

Blackstone at Age 30

By: Josh Lerner, John D. Dionne and Amram Migdal

Since its IPO in 2007 and following the global financial crisis, Blackstone largely outpaced its alternative investment firm peers in assets under management, new business launches, profitability, and market capitalization. Under the leadership of Stephen A.... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Asset Management; Private Equity; Financial Services Industry; New York (city, NY)

Jerry R. Green

David A. Wells Professor of Political Economy

John Leverett Professor in the University

Harvard University

Jerry Green is the John Leverett Professor in the University and the David A. Wells... View Details

Keywords: aerospace; education industry; insurance industry; professional services

02 Aug 2021
Blog Post

ALUMNI WORK TO REVERSE BIAS THROUGH PHILANTHROPY

Thought, one of the organizations that has received a grant from the New Commonwealth Racial Equity and Social Justice Fund. Photo by Noelia Castillo/Elevated Thought The high-profile deaths last year of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor,... View Details

Program

Owner/President Management

insight into driving operational excellence, OPM is a game changer that can help you advance your company's agenda and your leadership growth. You will emerge a visionary entrepreneurial leader, ready to inspire an agile culture, lead organizational change, View Details

1 Jul 2013
Panel Discussion

Master Class Session on Business and Investing in Africa

By: Euvin Naidoo, Pravin Gordhan, Nkosana Moyo, Moe Shaik, Polo Radebe and Cassim Coovadia

Annual Master Class Evening Session on: 'Business and Investment in Africa' - from Strategy to Execution Keynote address by Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan Led by South African Euvin Naidoo, who serves in his personal capacity as visiting faculty member at Wits... View Details