Publications

February 2016 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Mohamed Azab and Seha Capital

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Sarah McAra

In January 2011, Mohamed Azab, founder and CEO of health care investment firm Seha Capital, made his first health care investment in Hassab Labs, a diagnostic lab in Alexandria, Egypt. Weeks later, a revolution erupted across the country as the Arab Spring swept... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health; Pan-Africa; Health Care Investment; Financing; Developing World; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Investment; Financing and Loans; Developing Countries and Economies; Egypt; Africa

September 2020
Teaching Plan

Harlem Capital: Changing the Face of Entrepreneurship

By: George Serafeim

Jarrid Tingle and Henri Pierre-Jacques had spent the summer between their first and second years of their MBA program fund raising for their start-up venture capital (VC) firm, Harlem Capital Partners. Harlem Capital was founded upon the principle that addressing the... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital Firm Compensation; Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurial Financing; Black Entrepreneurs; Black Leadership; Black Inventors; Inclusion; Minority-owned Businesses; Race And Ethnicity; Race Characteristics; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Diversity; Race; Gender; Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Financial Services Industry; United States

2022
Working Paper

Small Campaign Donors

By: Laurent Bouton, Julia Cagé, Edgard Dewitte and Vincent Pons

In this paper, we study the characteristics and behavior of small donors, and compare them to those of large donors. We first build a novel dataset including all the 340 million individual contributions reported to the U.S. Federal Election Commission between 2005 and... View Details

Keywords: Campaign Finance; Campaign Contributions; Small Donations; ActBlue; WinRed; TV Advertising; Political Elections; Finance; Demographics; Advertising; Analysis; Analytics and Data Science

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July 2017
Supplement

Centerbridge Partners and Great Wolf Resorts (B)

By: Josh Lerner, John D. Dionne and Amram Migdal

The case examines the aftermath of the March 2015 Centerbridge Partners acquisition of Great Wolf Resorts, a North American family-oriented indoor water parks and hotel operator, from a private equity (PE) competitor, Apollo Global Management. View Details

Article

What are the Industries Attracting Private Equity Investments in Latin America?: Evidence from Twenty-five Countries from 2001 to 2008

By: Roberto Charvel

This article shows what are the industries attracting private equity investments in Latin America over time. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurial Finance; Alternative Assets; Emerging Market; Business Ventures; Economics; Finance; Financial Services Industry; Latin America

September 2012 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Doing Business in China

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Michael Shih-ta Chen, Nancy Dai and G.A. Donovan

This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in China. It highlights China's remarkable economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2012 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. The case summarizes the main obstacles faced... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Market Finance; Emergent Countries; Business History; Economic History; Emerging Markets; Business Ventures; Strategy; China

October 2012 (Revised September 2014)
Case

Doing Business in Vietnam

By: Alan MacCormack, Michael Shih-ta Chen and Dawn H. Lau

This case gives an overview of the current business environment in Vietnam as of 2012. The first part of the case introduces the main economic, political and cultural aspects of the country of which anyone who has business interest in the country ought to be aware.... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Market Finance; Emergent Countries; Business History; Economic History; Emerging Markets; Business Ventures; Strategy; Viet Nam

September 2012 (Revised September 2014)
Case

Doing Business in Brazil

By: Aldo Musacchio, Gustavo A. Herrero, Ricardo Reisen de Pinho, Cintra Scott and Jill Avery

This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Brazil. It highlights Brazil's ongoing economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2014 in the context of its historical, political, and cultural background. The case summarizes some of... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Market Finance; Emergent Countries; Business History; Economic History; Emerging Markets; Business Ventures; Strategy; Brazil

Article

Are Private Equity Investors Looking for Control in Latin America?: Evidence from Twenty-five Countries from 2001 to 2008

By: Roberto Charvel

This article reviews how private equity investments approach controlling stakes in their portfolio companies through Latin America. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Control Rights; Entrepreneurial Finance; Emerging Market; Business Ventures; Economics; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Financial Services Industry; Latin America

September 2008 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Khosla Ventures: Biofuels Strategy

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

By 2008, a number of the firm's early cleantech investments were showing promise, and the companies were starting to need significantly more money to create the massive scale required in the energy sector. As Khosla thought about the hundreds of millions of dollars... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Marketing; Entrepreneurial Finance; New Product Development; Partnerships; Entrepreneurial Management; Venture Capital; Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Investment Funds; Environmental Sustainability; Product Development; Biotechnology Industry; Financial Services Industry

November 2015
Case

Rubicon Global

By: William A. Sahlman and Hunter Ashmore

The case describes Rubicon Global, a startup that aimed to disrupt the waste management industry. The company started with a bold idea: create a cloud-based, full-service waste management company providing low-cost, highly efficient, and environmentally friendly... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Rubicon; Rubicon Global; Waste Management; Startups; Disruptive Technology; Technological Innovation; Disruptive Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Entrepreneurship; Wastes and Waste Processing; Business Startups; Corporate Finance; Service Industry

October 2019 (Revised June 2022)
Case

Toys 'R' Us: Come Buy My Toys

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz, Erica Segall, Alejandro Botto and Terrence Shu

Keywords: Private Equity; Retail; Finance; Leveraged Buyout; Leverage; Leveraged Buyouts; Bankruptcy

2015
Working Paper

Crowdfunding as 'Donations': Theory & Evidence

By: Kevin J. Boudreau, Lars Bo Jeppesen, Toke Reichstein and Francesco Rullani

For a wide class of crowdfunding approaches, we argue that the reward structure (for funders) is closer to that of charitable donations to public goods than it is to traditional entrepreneurial finance. Many features of the design of crowdfunding platforms can... View Details

Keywords: Crowdfunding Platforms; Entrepreneurial Finance; Free-riding; Voluntary Contributions To Public Goods; Online Technology; Entrepreneurship; Social and Collaborative Networks; Finance; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

SSRN

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June 2021
Case

Building the Governance to Take Capital SAFI to the Next Level

By: V.G. Narayanan, Asis Martinez Jerez and Mariana Cal

Asset management firm Capital SAFI wanted to attract new strategic investors and expand to other countries. Having the right corporate governance in place was critical to achieve this goal. View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Transparency; Sustainable Finance; South America; Latin America; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business Organization; Corporate Strategy; Transformation; Investment Funds; Financial Services Industry; Bolivia; South America; Latin America

December 2012 (Revised May 2014)
Case

Hotel Ivory

By: Arthur I Segel, Nicolas P. Retsinas and Jonathan Lo

Cheick Sanankoua is an MBA student who believes that he has found the perfect investment property, a small, independently owned hotel, on the Ivory Coast. However, he has had trouble raising money for the investment beyond friends and family. Through contacts in the... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Emergent Countries; Investing; Entrepreneurial Finance; Debts; Cash Flow; Quantitative Analysis; Financing; Development Stage Enterprises; Small ＆ Medium-sized Enterprises; Africa; Ivory Coast; Venture Capital; Emerging Markets; Property; Investment; Accommodations Industry; Real Estate Industry; Africa

January 2020
Case

Blackstone at 35: Performance, Innovation, and the Next Generation

By: Josh Lerner

Keywords: Finance; Private Equity; Investing; Succession Planning; Leadership; Fund Management; Fund Raising

December 2017
Teaching Note

Centerbridge Partners and Great Wolf Resorts: Buying from a Highly Regarded Competitor

By: Josh Lerner, John D. Dionne and Amram Migdal

Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 818-023 and 818-024. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity Financing; Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities; CMBS; Secondary Buyouts; Sbo; Business Exit or Shutdown; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry

summer 1992
Article

Shareholder Trading Practices and Corporate Investment Horizons

By: Kenneth A. Froot, André Perold and J. Stein

Keywords: Institutional Investing; Market Efficiency; Behavioral Finance; Equities; Stock Market; Indexing; Financial Markets; Asset Pricing

Find at Harvard

September 2012 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Doing Business in India

By: Andy Zelleke, Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Saloni Chaturvedi

The case is set in August 2012—a time when India was undergoing policy stasis as several key reforms were stalled and the government faced allegations of misallocation of coal production licenses. The first part of the case provides a brief background on India's... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Market Finance; Emergent Countries; Business History; Economic History; Fieldwork; Emerging Markets; Business Ventures; Strategy