Publications

September 2004 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Mt. Auburn Partners Search Fund

By: William A. Sahlman and Dan Heath

Provides background on search funds and follows two partners as they try to raise financing for a search fund. View Details

Keywords: Search Funds; Financing and Loans; Financial Condition

October 2002 (Revised June 2006)
Case

KnowledgeNet (A)

By: William A. Sahlman and Elizabeth Kind

Describes the internal reporting package for a rapidly growing company in the e-learning industry. Management must analyze the data in the package and decide what actions to take. They must also decide what to communicate to the board of directors. Contains a... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Growth Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Performance Improvement; Performance Evaluation; Education Industry

October 1998
Case

Conduit Communications

By: William A. Sahlman and Jon Biotti

Keywords: Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; United Kingdom

September 1997 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Circles

By: William A. Sahlman and Jon Biotti

Janet Kraus and Kathy Sherbrooke started a resource and referral company specializing in helping busy people get things done. Issues include financing and product and marketing strategy. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Resource Allocation; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Service Industry; United States

November 1995
Case

InterZine Productions, Inc.

By: William A. Sahlman and Jason Green

Brian Henley founded InterZine Productions to develop interactive multimedia content for America Online (AOL) and the Internet. With funding and support from AOL's Greenhouse program, Henley has launched Golf, a unique interactive golf service. While he has operated on... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Capital; Financing and Loans; Internet and the Web; Management Teams; Innovation and Invention; Media and Broadcasting Industry

November 1994
Supplement

VideoGuide, Inc. (D)

By: William A. Sahlman and Jason Green

Supplement the (A) case. View Details

February 2016 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Raising Capital at BzzAgent (Abridged)

By: William A. Sahlman and Christopher Payton

August 2003 (Revised May 2009)
Background Note

Basic Venture Capital Formula, The

By: William A. Sahlman and Matthew Willis

Briefly summarizes the process that venture capitalists use to analyze high-risk, long-term investments. Contains information on methods that can be used to calculate valuation, share price, percent ownership, implied valuation, dilution, and option pools. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Risk Management; Mathematical Methods; Valuation

December 2000
Case

SupplierMarket.com (A)

By: William A. Sahlman and Jared Stone

Describes a decision confronting the cofounders of a B2B Internet firm that focuses on the purchasing process for manufactured direct materials. The company has raised one round of capital from two prominent venture capital firms and must decide if it makes sense to... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Customers; Decisions; Venture Capital; Internet

September 1995
Case

Richina Capital Partners Limited

By: William A. Sahlman and Jason Green

Richard Yan and Suzanne Foels raise a $52.5 million fund to invest in Chinese companies in concert with major multinational companies. They face all the challenges of starting a business from scratch in addition to the challenges of operating in a cross-cultural... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Venture Capital; Problems and Challenges; Emerging Markets; Multinational Firms and Management; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Governance Compliance; Business Strategy; Expansion; Investment Return; China

20 Nov 2012
First Look

First Look: November 20

and Regulatory Approval of Genetically Modified Organisms Authors:Shon R. Hiatt and Sangchan Park Publication:Academy of Management Journal (forthcoming) Abstract Little is known about the factors that influence regulatory-agency decision making. We posit that... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Jul 2012
First Look

First Look: July 17

identified and classified in terms of specifying, allocating, and utilizing capacity. The first two categories reflect challenges faced by infrastructure providers; the last category, challenges faced by... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 1994
Case

VideoGuide, Inc. (A)

By: William A. Sahlman and Jason Green

VideoGuide is emerging from a development stage start-up and requires a significant capital infusion to commercialize its product. Various financing options are considered including going public, venture capital, private placement, or a strategic partner. Given the... View Details

Keywords: Capital Budgeting; Capital; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Initial Public Offering; Markets; Partners and Partnerships; Growth and Development Strategy; Going Public

April 1986 (Revised February 1989)
Case

Tribal Assets Management: The Dragon Proposal

By: William A. Sahlman and Norman Klein

Keywords: Financial Services Industry

August 2015
Supplement

Raising Capital at BzzAgent (B)

By: William A. Sahlman and Christopher Payton

November 2011 (Revised February 2012)
Case

Khan Academy

By: William A. Sahlman and Liz Kind

Keywords: Education; Teaching; Internet and the Web

October 2010
Case

innocent

By: William A. Sahlman and Harry Wake

This case describes a set of issues confronting the founders of innocent, a 10-year old beverage company that dominated the UK smoothie market. The team must decide how to proceed with expansion of the product line and outside the UK and Ireland. They must also decide... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Expansion; Capital Structure; Corporate Finance; Growth and Development Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry

November 2006
Case

Tickle

By: William A. Sahlman and Dan Heath

Describes a set of decisions confronting the management team of a rapidly growing online psychological testing and social networking company. They can either sell the company to a large public company, raise another round of capital from a preeminent venture capital... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Internet and the Web; Growth Management; Internet and the Web; Business Strategy; Corporate Finance