Publications

November 1996 (Revised August 1997)
Case

Project "Dial-Tone"

By: William A. Sahlman and Andrew S. Janower

Bob Hellman, a partner in a West Coast middle-market buyout firm, is attempting to simultaneously acquire and merge three disparate firms in the rapidly consolidating telemarketing services industry. Hellman must value the individual companies as well as the combined... View Details

Keywords: Complexity; Private Equity; Integration; Mergers and Acquisitions; Negotiation Deal; Strategic Planning; Investment; Opportunities; Valuation; Service Industry

01 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

Crowdfunding a Poor Investment?

checks and balances to keep them accountable, including detailed financial reporting, private companies have no such thing. Because of that, the SEC currently allows only accredited investors—meaning those who can attest to a certain level of assets and income—to View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

12 Oct 2011
First Look

First Look: October 12

generally takes one of two approaches. The market timing and catering approach views managerial financing and investment decisions as rational managerial responses to securities mispricing. The managerial biases approach studies the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2021
Case

Brown Capital Management

By: Luis M. Viceira, Emily R. McComb and Sarah Mehta

Set in July 2021, this case looks at several growth strategies under consideration at Brown Capital, the second-oldest Black-owned asset management firm in the U.S. Since its 1983 founding, Baltimore-based Brown Capital has specialized in small company growth... View Details

23 Aug 2004
Research & Ideas

New Challenges for Long-Term Investors

conservative investing leads to recommend bonds, not cash, for long horizon investors. Similarly, under the view that the annualized volatility of stock returns declines with the investment horizon,... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

September 2009 (Revised September 2010)
Case

Avid Radiopharmaceuticals and Lighthouse Capital Partners

By: Matthew Rhodes-Kropf and Ann Leamon

In fall 2008, a venture lender must decide whether to make a loan to Avid, a small but promising venture-backed life sciences firm. In reviewing her proposal, Cristy Barnes considers the company's characteristics and how they differ from a typical investment. At the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Investment; Financial Services Industry; Health Industry

August 2001
Case

Strategic Capital Management, LLC (C)

By: Mark L. Mitchell, Erik Stafford and Todd Pulvino

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Business Subsidiaries; Internet and the Web; Investment Funds; Price; Performance Efficiency; Capital Markets; Auctions; Investment Return; Equity; Planning; Financial Services Industry

August 2001
Case

Strategic Capital Management, LLC (B)

By: Mark L. Mitchell, Erik Stafford and Todd Pulvino

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Business Subsidiaries; Internet and the Web; Investment Funds; Price; Performance Efficiency; Capital Markets; Auctions; Investment Return; Equity; Planning; Financial Services Industry

06 Dec 2021
Research & Ideas

The Popular Stock Metric That Can Lead Investors Astray

the balance sheet. Such investments will therefore depress book equity value. "When you know the accounting, you can, and you will, know how to make all this work." “For technology or healthcare companies,... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

14 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

The Big Money for Big Projects

other projects. Third, studying projects requires significant up-front investment to understand the institutional details. When equity holders have too little "skin in the game," moral hazard... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

14 Nov 2007
First Look

First Look: November 14, 2007

Supplements the case "Nestle's Milk District Model: Economic Development for a Value-Added Food Chain and Improved Nutrition." Purchase this supplement: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=907402 A Note on Private View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

07 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 7

Publications 2006 Review of Financial Studies Unstable Equity: Combining Banking with Private Equity Investing By: Fang, Lily H., Victoria Ivashina, and Josh Lerner Abstract—Bank-affiliated private View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

24 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Something Ventured, Something Gained: A European View of Venture Capital

the spotlight, providing American entrepreneurs with the resources they need to act on their ideas and dreams. In Apax chairman Ron Cohen's view, the European VC and private equity community is headed in the same direction, with added... View Details

Keywords: by James E. Aisner; Financial Services

24 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 24, 2006

restructuring that left the Panigoros with a 34.1 percent equity stake in Medco. Two other large shareholders are now looking to sell their combined stake of 50.9 percent, and have selected Temasek, the Singapore government's View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

21 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 21

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 private View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel & Sean Silverthorne

13 Jul 2010
First Look

First Look: July 13

prevents homeowners from deleveraging when property values decline and homeowner equity deteriorates, conspire to create a "ratchet" effect in which homeowner leverage is maintained during good times without the ability to... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

August 1999 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Brita Products Company, The

By: John A. Deighton

Clorox's Brita skillfully exploits a tide of water safety concerns, growing a home water (filtration) business from inception to a 15% U.S. household penetration in ten years. The dilemma in the case arises as the period of increasing returns seems to be drawing to a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Acquisition; Retention; Safety; Natural Environment; Emerging Markets; Investment Return; Equity; Demand and Consumers; United States

May 2021
Case

Inclusive Innovation at Mass General Brigham

By: Katherine Baldiga Coffman and Olivia Hull

Massachusetts General Brigham (MGB) Chief Innovation Officer Christopher Coburn had overseen a period of exciting transformation and growth in healthcare innovation at MGB. In November 2019, the health system was the largest recipient of National Institutes of Health... View Details