Publications

A truly smart smart city investment requires looking at three dimensions: characteristics of cities, capital requirements for various initiatives, and the decision-making process. I suggest decision makers in these initiatives follow an analytical sequence of... View Details

01 Aug 2018
News

Are share buybacks 'plundering company resources'?

05 Jul 2018
News

China’s new $15bn tech fund emulates SoftBank’s Vision Fund

October 2012
Case

Hill Country Snack Foods Co.

By: W. Carl Kester and Craig Stephenson

Hill Country Snack Foods, located in Austin, Texas, manufactures, markets, and distributes snack foods and frozen treats. The CEO is passionate about maximizing shareholder value and believes in keeping tight control over costs and operating the business as efficiently... View Details

Keywords: United States; Financial Strategy; Debt Management; Retail Trade; Risk Management; Food; Capital Structure; Corporate Finance; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Texas

30 Oct 2014
Blog Post

Alumni: Where are they now? Featuring Robert Leke...

younger members of the team. I hope to one day help in building this investment firm into one which is known for its hands-on management approach, patient capital and deep knowledge in the sectors within... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

January 2014 (Revised October 2014)
Case

Andreessen Horowitz

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Liz Kind

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a venture capital firm launched in 2009, has quickly broken into the VC industry's top ranks, in terms of its ability to invest in Silicon Valley's most promising startups. The case recounts the firm's history; describes its co-founders'... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Venture Capital; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Industry Structures; Financial Services Industry; California

17 May 2007
Working Paper Summaries

The Price of Capital: Evidence from Trade Data

Keywords: by Laura Alfaro & Faisal Z. Ahmed

14 Aug 2023
Blog Post

Crossing the Bridge: A Reflection on the HKS/HBS Joint Degree Program

have had coffee chats with a former United States Governor, Fortune 500 CEOs, revered thought leaders, and international diplomats solely because of events on campus and in the classroom. I have been elected as Co-President of the Black View Details

17 Dec 2020
Video

Top 5 Cold Call Podcast Episodes for 2020

2012
Book

Venture Capital, Private Equity, and the Financing of Entrepreneurship

By: Josh Lerner, Ann Leamon and Felda Hardymon

Venture Capital, Private Equity, and the Financing of Entrepreneurship stems from a realization that private equity overall—defined in this volume as venture capital and buyouts but excluding hedge funds—has become a vastly more sizable and influential part of the... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Entrepreneurship

Find at Harvard

September 2006 (Revised July 2009)
Case

BzzAgent, Inc. - 2005

By: William A. Sahlman and Caroline Perkins

Describes a set of financing issues confronting a rapidly growing company that uses "Word-of-Mouth" marketing techniques in promoting research, new products, or services. The company proposes to set the terms for a new round of venture capital it needs and to have... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Value

October 2020
Case

TowerBrook: ESG in Action (A)

By: Victoria Ivashina, Brian Trelstad and Meaghan Conway

This case is the first of a two-part series that follows Ramez Sousou and his team at TowerBrook Capital Partners as they face a challenging investment decision in February of 2013. Since its founding, TowerBrook has prided itself on its purpose-driven investing... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Finance; Private Equity; Corporate Governance; Value Creation; Investment; Decision Making

Research Summary

Promoting greater organizational adoption of energy efficiency projects

This research examines why firms fail to capitalize on apparently cost-effective investments in energy efficiency, with particular attention to waste heat recovery projects, in which heat from industrial processes are recovered in the form of thermal or electrical... View Details

October 2009
Case

Noble Group

By: C. Fritz Foley, Michael Shih-ta Chen, Matthew Johnson and Linnea Meyer

What role does trade finance play in facilitating global supply chain management? Richard S. Elman, founder and CEO of Noble Group Ltd., a global commodities trading company based in Hong Kong, must raise capital to support the firm's working capital and investment... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Capital; Financing and Loans; International Finance; Globalized Firms and Management; Risk Management; Supply Chain Management; Hong Kong

May 2007 (Revised January 2009)
Case

Stryker Corporation: In-sourcing PCBs

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

This case examines a proposed investment in the capability to manufacture printed circuit boards (PCBs) in-house rather than buying them from third-party contract manufacturers. Stryker Corporation's Instruments business is considering the proposal in response to... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Capital Budgeting; Investment; Investment Return; Production; Valuation

November 2000
Case

Reuters Greenhouse Fund

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Daniel Galvin

Reuters Greenhouse Fund had successfully invested in a portfolio of 79 companies working in areas relevant to Reuters Group's strategic interests. It had itself facilitated a powerful network among the companies and become a respected global venture capital firm.... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment; Investment Portfolio; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Financial Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Transition; Partners and Partnerships; Networks; Internet; Financial Services Industry; Media and Broadcasting 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

August 2005 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Pawson Foundation: August 2006

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

A top-tier venture capital firm has encountered challenging conditions for its recent funds, which have raised "clawback" liabilities. In response, it is charging its investors the difference between the lower budget-based fee that it used and the maximum that the... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment Funds; Price; Partners and Partnerships

October 2012 (Revised February 2019)
Case

Whaling Ventures

By: Tom Nicholas and Jonas Peter Akins

Whaling was a prominent global industry in the nineteenth century and the United States was dominant. By 1850 there were about 900 whaling ships in the world and 700 of these were American. Rates of return on capital were high compared to benchmark investments, at... View Details

Keywords: Whaling; Organization Design; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Finance; Organizational Design; Industry Growth; History; United States