Publications

April 2011 (Revised April 2012)
Case

Angels in British Columbia

By: Josh Lerner, Thomas Hellmann and Ilkin Ilyaszade

The case study provides an overview of the angel investment practices and describes government policies towards angel and venture capital investing in British Columbia, Canada. It focuses in particular on the Equity Capital Program (BCECP henceforth), which provides... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Investment; Policy; Taxation; Performance Improvement; Programs; British Columbia

October 2018 (Revised February 2018)
Case

Masayoshi Son and the Vision Fund

By: Tom Nicholas, Ramana Nanda and Benjamin N. Roth

In October 2016, SoftBank Group Corp., the Japanese conglomerate giant caused a significant shock to the worldwide market for venture capital and private equity by announcing the Vision Fund, the largest tech investment fund in the world at close to $100 billion. The... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Entrepreneurship; Competitive Strategy

December 2010
Compilation

VCPE Strategy Vignettes I

By: Josh Lerner, G. Felda Hardymon, Matthew Rhodes-Kropf, Ann Leamon and Lisa Strope

These three vignettes present various issues around the strategy and management of venture capital and private equity firms. In one, the general partners must decide whether to invest in an intriguing opportunity that lies outside the firm's carefully developed... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Financial Strategy; Projects; Decision Choices and Conditions; Partners and Partnerships; Opportunities; Investment Portfolio; Business or Company Management; China

2025
Working Paper

Antitrust Platform Regulation and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from China

By: Ke Rong, D. Daniel Sokol, Di Zhou and Feng Zhu

Many jurisdictions have launched antitrust enforcement and brought in regulation of large tech platforms. The swift and strict implementation of China’s Anti-Monopoly Guidelines for the Platform Economy (Platform Guidelines) provides a quasi-natural experiment... View Details

Keywords: Platform; Antitrust; Regulation; Entrepreneurship; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Competition; Venture Capital; Market Entry and Exit; Supply and Industry; China

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October 2013 (Revised April 2018)
Technical Note

Non-Equity Financing for Entrepreneurial Ventures

By: Joan Farre-Mensa, Ramana Nanda and Piyush Jain

Young, and particularly high-growth ventures often need to raise significant external finance, since their internal cash flow is usually insufficient to support the investments needed to grow. Although raising equity from venture capital or angel investors is the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Financial Services Industry

11 Jan 2011
News

Clean Energy Sector Hit by Financing Crunch

15 Sep 2021
Video

Okechukwu "Okey" Enelamah

Okey Enelamah, the former Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment (2015-2019) and Founder of African Capital Alliance, explains the foundations of his religious values and the importance of family. View Details

November 2001 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Whirlpool Europe

By: Richard S. Ruback, Sudhakar Balachandran and Aldo Sesia

This case presents a capital budgeting problem. Whirlpool Europe is evaluating an investment in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that would reorganize the information flow throughout the company. Students derive the cash flows from working capital, sales,... View Details

Keywords: Working Capital; Cash Flow; Investment; Capital Budgeting; Consumer Products Industry; Europe

May 2000
Case

CMGI: Organizational and Market Innovation

By: Josh Lerner

CMGI is considering acquiring yesmail, an e-mail marketing firm. In assessing the potential acquisition, it must assess the fit with its own organization, which consists of a unique blend of venture capital investments and publicly traded subsidiaries. View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Structure; Venture Capital; Business Subsidiaries

October 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Background Note

Note on Funding Deep Tech Startups

By: Karim Lakhani, Peter Barrett and Noubar Afeyan

This Background Note provides essential information on funding deep technologies—those technologies that were inherently capital intensive, time consuming, risky, and potentially disruptive. Both dilutive and non-dilutive sources of investment are highlighted, along... View Details

November 2008 (Revised January 2009)
Case

Arcapita - 2002

In 2002, Arcapita Bank, B.S.C., then known as First Islamic Investment Bank, or FIIB, faced a liquidity crunch. Aracapita offered Islamic-compliant private equity, real estate, and venture capital products. In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attack, however, Islamic... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Private Equity; Financial Liquidity; Investment; Globalized Firms and Management; National Security; Religion; Financial Services Industry

March 1997 (Revised January 1999)
Case

Cambridge Technology Partners: Corporate Venturing (August 1996)

By: Paul A. Gompers and Catherine M. Conneely

Concerns the decision of Jim Sims, president and CEO of Cambridge Technology Partners (CTP) to form a corporate venture capital subsidiary. CTP is a fast-growing information technology consulting firm that has been presented with many investment opportunities from... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Venture Capital; Leadership; Information Technology; Investment; Opportunities; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business Startups; Business Subsidiaries; Information Technology Industry; Consulting Industry; Cambridge

Find at Harvard

2010
Working Paper

Does Diversification Create Value in the Presence of External Financing Constraints? Evidence from the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis

We show that the value of corporate diversification increased during the 2007-2009 financial crisis. Diversification gave firms both financing and investment advantages. First, conglomerates became significantly more leveraged relative to comparable focused firms.... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Financial Crisis; Resource Allocation; Investment; Financing and Loans; Business Conglomerates; Capital Markets

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24 Apr 2013
News

Windfall or bust? Crowdfunding may not turn out to be boon that many small businesses expect

15 Sep 2021
Video

Okechukwu "Okey" Enelamah

Okey Enelamah, the former Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment (2015-2019) and Founder of African Capital Alliance, discusses the importance of creating the correct environment to encourage the development of economies throughout Africa. View Details

April 2025
Case

Kleiner Perkins (2019)

By: Jo Tango and Srimayi Mylavarapu

Kleiner Perkins, founded in 1972, quickly rose to prominence as one of Silicon Valley’s leading venture capital firms, earning a reputation for early investments in industry giants like Google, Amazon, and Citrix. However, a bold, strategic pivot to cleantech investing... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment Funds; Technological Innovation; Entrepreneurial Finance

October 2008 (Revised March 2010)
Case

PlanetTran

By: Lauren H. Cohen and Christopher J. Malloy

PlanetTran is an environmentally-friendly car service that utilizes a fleet of hybrid cars in providing livery service to corporations and individuals. The founder, Seth Riney, is evaluating outside funding options in order to expand the company, and has met several... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Venture Capital; Investment; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Expansion; Value