Publications

SSRN

November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
Case

Anthology: Pivoting the Business Model

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Christopher Payton

In July 2014, after 18 months and eight unsuccessful product launches, the CEO of Yabbly has agreed to sell his company to a larger, well-funded startup, providing a return of capital for his investors and a home for his team. Two weeks prior to the scheduled closing,... View Details

Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Business Model; Business Plan; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Innovation Strategy; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Fairness; Valuation; Technology Industry; Consumer Products Industry; North America; United States; Seattle

June 2024
Teaching Note

Beamery: Using Skills and AI to Modernize HR

By: Boris Groysberg, David Lane, Susan Pinckney and Alexis Lefort

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 424-004. Unicorn human relationships startup Beamery evaluates it growth versus depth strategy as its strategic partners and customers could become future competitors in a quickly changing AI based human resources and talent management... View Details

April 2000
Case

Financing of Project Achieve, The (A)

By: Mihir A. Desai

An entrepreneur is forced to analyze the tradeoffs between different equity providers through a detailed analysis of venture financing terms and cash flow forecasts. The founder of a Web-based IMS for schools must negotiate a term sheet, determine funding needs, value... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Forecasting and Prediction; Venture Capital; Cash Flow; Equity; Negotiation Deal; Valuation

September 2010
Supplement

Compass Maritime Services, LLC: Valuing Ships (CW)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Albert W. Sheen

Tom Roberts, a founding partner of Compass Maritime Services, a New Jersey-based shipping research and consulting firm, has been asked by a new potential customer in May 2008 for advice on purchasing a capesize bulk carrier. After identifying a suitable ship with his... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Decisions; Microeconomics; Finance; Price; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Market Transactions; Partners and Partnerships; Mathematical Methods; Valuation; Consulting Industry; New Jersey

June 2018
Teaching Note

The Transformation of Microsoft

By: C. Fritz Foley and F. Katelynn Boland

Teaching Note for HBS No. 218-048. In early 2015, Amy Hood, CFO of Microsoft, and the rest of the senior leadership team faced a set of fundamental choices. The firm had opportunities to serve customers in ways that would be associated with higher growth but lower... View Details

Keywords: Growth; Corporate Finance; Valuation; Growth Management; Communication Strategy; Transformation; Information Technology Industry; Computer Industry; United States

17 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 17

valuations in first financing rounds. Further econometric tests suggest that, as predicted by the theory, this effect is driven by unobservable heterogeneity, and it is more pronounced in teams that make quick decisions about founder... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Aug 2010
First Look

First Look: August 3

argue that the considerable moral hazard of private regulatory enforcement can be mitigated by the scope of organizations' product/service portfolios and by private governance mechanisms. These organizational characteristics affect the stringency of enforcement through... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

The Success of Persistent Entrepreneurs

receive higher valuations and less restrictive covenants when they raise capital? Sarah Jane Gilbert: Can you explain the concept of "performance persistence" and what it entails? Paul Gompers and Josh Lerner: Essentially, entrepreneurs... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

03 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 3

next-generation product. Read the article: http://hbr.org/2011/05/the-best-way-to-name-your-product-20/ar/1 Think Customers Hate Waiting? Not So Fast... Authors:Ryan W. Buell and Michael I. Norton Publication:Harvard Business Review 89,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 24

time. Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/711414-PDF-ENG Product Development at OPOWER Thomas Eisenmann and Rob GoHarvard Business School Case 811-075 OPOWER, a software startup that helps utilities engage their View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 8

By: Hałaburda, Hanna, and Felix Oberholzer-Gee Abstract—The value of many products and services rises or falls with the number of customers using them; the fewer fax machines in use, the less important it is to have one. These network... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 Apr 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Competing with Privacy

Keywords: by Ramon Casadesus-Masanell & Andres Hervas-Drane; Publishing

Article

The Cross Section of Bank Value

By: Mark Egan, Stefan Lewellen and Adi Sunderam

We study the determinants of value creation in U.S. commercial banks. We develop novel measures of individual banks' productivities at collecting deposits and making loans. We relate these measures to bank market values and find that deposit productivity is responsible... View Details

Keywords: Productivity; Banks and Banking; Valuation; Performance Productivity; Value Creation; United States

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09 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 9, 2008

dialogue with Michel about selling the company or expanding their relationship. Michel wondered if the time was right to sell or if he should grow Affinity Labs further with the hope of creating a company that could command the high View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 1996 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Grupo Sidek (A)

By: Kenneth A. Froot and Alberto Moel

A large Mexican conglomerate, active in tourism, real estate, and steel, is faced with difficult macroeconomic conditions beginning with the Peso crisis of December 1994. The conglomerate had extensive dollar-indexed liabilities and was caught in a crunch when the... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Exchange; Real Estate; Debt Policy; Tourism; Steel; Business Conglomerates; Macroeconomics; Currency Exchange Rate; Crisis Management; Valuation; Mexico

September 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens

By: Mihir A. Desai, James R. Hines, Jr and Mark Veblen

In response to Stanley Work's announcement that it is moving to Bermuda--and the associated jump in market value--a major competitor sets out to determine how the market is valuing the consequences of moving to a tax haven and whether his company should invert to a tax... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Taxation; Financial Strategy; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; International Finance; Valuation; Financial Markets; Financial Statements; United States