Publications

August 2019 (Revised March 2023)
Case

Rand Fishkin at Moz (A)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

In 2016, senior management at Moz, a venture capital–backed startup providing software tools for digital marketing professionals, must decide how to address a looming cash flow crisis precipitated by failed efforts to broaden its product line. Seattle-based Moz had... View Details

Keywords: Startups; Scaling; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Business Startups; Diversification; Growth Management; Technology Industry

May 2010 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Breaking the Buck

By: Robert C. Pozen and Elizabeth Leonard

After an incredibly volatile six months since Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, Finbar McCall contemplated his options. As the investment manager of RPG Prime Reserve Fund, Inc. (RPGXX), McCall had just heard the news that the U.S. Treasury was extending the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Financial Crisis; Financial Management; Insurance; Investment Funds; Business and Government Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations; Financial Services Industry

March 2018 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Cadre

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Scott Duke Kominers and David Lane

Late in 2017, CEO Ryan Williams and his team debated whether Cadre should become not only a technology-enabled investment manager, but also an online trading exchange providing high levels of liquidity for investors in commercial real estate (CRE) equity. Cadre was a... View Details

Keywords: ＂Cadre,＂; Entrepreneurship; Market Design; Digital Platforms; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Private Equity; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States

10 Apr 2020
News

Managing the Liquidity Crisis

16 Dec 2020
Blog Post

My HBS Student Loan Story: Ina Foalea (MBA 2018)

Business school is a valuable investment in your future. HBS supports that investment through generous need-based scholarships. In addition to scholarships, many HBS students utilize student loans to help... View Details

03 May 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Pay Now or Pay Later? The Economics within the Private Equity Partnership

Keywords: by Victoria Ivashina and Josh Lerner; Banking; Financial Services

February 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Case

In-Q-Tel

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

The Central Intelligence Agency establishes a venture-enabled fund, In-Q-Tel, to allow it to access cutting-edge technologies. Fund managers face a variety of difficulties, some similar to those facing other institutionally affiliated venture funds and some unique. View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Venture Capital; Investment Funds; Problems and Challenges; Government Administration; Public Administration Industry; United States

November 2023 (Revised July 2024)
Case

'Care in Every Drop': Ayala Corporation and Manila Water (A)

By: Debora L. Spar, Paul Healy, Tricia Peralta and Julia M. Comeau

Since 1834, eight generations of the Ayala family have used their conglomerate to fund nation-building projects in the Philippines, including investments in tramcars, telecommunications, hospitals, and schools. In 1997, Ayala’s subsidiary, Manila Water, took control of... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Economic Growth; Social Entrepreneurship; Climate Change; Natural Resources; Crisis Management; Failure; Privatization; Social Issues; Urban Development; Adaptation; Public Opinion; Mission and Purpose; Utilities Industry; Asia; Philippines

Research Summary

Islamic Financing Practices

By: Samuel L. Hayes

Samuel L. Hayes III is examining (with faculty of Harvard University's Law School and Center for Middle Eastern Studies) Islamic banking and investment practices. Because the Koran prohibits the payment of fixed interest and guarantees on funds invested either with... View Details

October 1992
Case

Vanguard Group, Inc. (B)

By: Jay O. Light

A large mutual fund complex decides on its future product line. View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Strategic Planning; Financial Services Industry

February 2017 (Revised February 2018)
Case

Frank Baker: Siris Capital Group and Titan Systems

By: Steven Rogers and Derrick Collins

Private equity firm, Siris Capital Group, must decide if they should raise their offer to take Titan Telecom private by acquiring its publicly traded stock. Siris’ decision to pay a premium for Titan must be made in the context of their unique (and somewhat complex)... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Mobile Technology; Financial Services Industry; Communications Industry; Telecommunications Industry; United States

01 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

Crowdfunding a Poor Investment?

usually required in a venture capital presentation. “A lot of companies that probably shouldn't get funding will get it” As enticing as crowdfunding is as a concept, it may ultimately have little power to shake up the View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

2009
Working Paper

Private Equity and Industry Performance

By: Josh Lerner

The growth of the private equity industry has spurred concerns about its potential impact on the economy more generally. This analysis looks across nations and industries to assess the impact of private equity on industry performance. Industries where PE funds have... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment; Common Law; Industry Growth; Performance Productivity; Europe; United Kingdom; United States

Career Coach

Juan Leung Li

While it takes introspection, Juan believes in the meaningful differences (finding purpose!) these efforts have in career searches. While at HBS, Juan considered a diverse set of opportunities such as brand management, consulting, PE, public markets View Details

Keywords: Angel Investing; Angel Investing; Angel Investing; Angel Investing; Angel Investing; Angel Investing; Angel Investing; Angel Investing; Angel Investing; Angel Investing; Angel Investing; Angel Investing; Angel Investing; Angel Investing

06 Jan 2021
Blog Post

My HBS Student Loan Story: Gorick Ng (MBA 2018)

Business school is a valuable investment in your future. HBS supports that investment through generous need-based scholarships. In addition to scholarships, many HBS students utilize student loans to help... View Details

04 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 4

funds, and their locations. Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/317079-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 317-076 Eve Hall: The African American Investment Fund in Milwaukee The... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2023
Working Paper

Coordinated R&D Programs and the Creation of New Industries

By: Daniel P. Gross and Maria P. Roche

Complex systems technologies—including “deep tech”—are prone to numerous frictions that stymie commercial development. Yet technologies with these features underpin some of the most valuable industries of the past century. We examine how large, mission-oriented... View Details

Keywords: Research and Development; Policy; Business and Government Relations; Technological Innovation; Collaborative Innovation and Invention

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2021
Working Paper

Going by the Book: Valuation Ratios and Stock Returns

By: Ki-Soon Choi, Eric So and Charles C.Y. Wang

We study the use of firms’ book-to-market ratios (B/M) in value investing and its implications for comovements in firms’ stock returns and trading volumes. We show B/M has become increasingly detached from common alternative valuation ratios over time while also... View Details

Keywords: Valuation Ratios; Book-to-market Ratios; Investment Return; Investment; Decision Making

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January 2023
Case

The END Fund: To Eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Courtney Han

Founded in 2012, the END fund focused on eliminating five Neglected Tropical Diseases that accounted for 80% of the tropical diseases affecting nearly 1.5 billion people worldwide. Its roughly $25 million/year annual budget was fully committed when it got news that the... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Health Disorders; Health Care and Treatment; Resource Allocation; Global Range; Decisions; Investment Funds