Publications

July 2007 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Berkshire Partners: Purchase of Rival Company (A)

Berkshire Partners, a private equity firm in Boston, was pleased with their recent investment in the Holmes Group, a home comfort consumer electronics company. The portfolio company was exceeding key financial targets and Berkshire Partners was confident that it would... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Capital Structure; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment; Acquisition; Financial Services Industry; Boston

April 2017
Article

Financing Risk and Innovation

By: Ramana Nanda and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

We provide a model of investment into new ventures that demonstrates why some places, times, and industries should be associated with a greater degree of experimentation by investors. Investors respond to financing risk―a forecast of limited future funding―by modifying... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Financing and Loans; Innovation and Invention

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October 2012
Case

Dispensers of California, Inc.

By: David A. Wilson and David Hawkins

An investor seeking capital must prepare projected financial statements for a new business. View Details

Keywords: Financial Statement Preparation; Accounting Process; Forecasting and Prediction; Investment; Financial Statements; Business Startups; Capital; California

30 Jul 2008
Op-Ed

Why the U.S. Should Encourage FDI

emerging markets of China and India—are filled with capital controls and ownership restrictions. How can the United States as a destination end up being so much less attractive despite the relative absence of this usual litany of View Details

Keywords: by Mihir A. Desai

January 1994 (Revised April 2011)
Background Note

Note on Private Equity Partnership Agreements

By: Josh Lerner

Venture capital by necessity is a long-run investment. Consequently, since the mid-1960s virtually all venture financing has been raised through private partnerships with a ten-year or longer life span. To govern these investments, complex contracts have sprung up... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Investment; Governance; Contracts; Partners and Partnerships

November 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Artisan Entertainment Inc.

Geoff Rehnert and Marc Wolpow have left Bain Capital to launch Audax Group. As part of their separation, they have been granted 90-day options to purchase Bain Capital's stake in a number of portfolio companies at Fair Market Value. As they conside whether to exercise... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Investment Funds

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20 Mar 2012
Working Paper Summaries

The Stock Selection and Performance of Buy-Side Analysts

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Paul Healy, George Serafeim, Devin Shanthikumar & Gui Yang; Financial Services

08 Sep 2010
First Look

First Look: September 8, 2010

under-invest in those firm attributes that may enhance long-term performance, such as human capital and technology (proxied by intangible assets in our paper). Indeed we do find evidence that ethnically Chinese firms View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

16 Aug 2016
First Look

August 16, 2016

N., and Josh Lerner Abstract—This paper describes the available data and research on venture capital investments and performance. We comment on the challenges inherent in those data and research as well as... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 7

http://hbr.org/product/Google-Inc--in-2014/an/915004-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 714-520 Investing in Online Marketplaces Simon Rothman had recently been promoted from executive-in-residence to partner at esteemed venture View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Oct 2012
First Look

First Look: October 2

better CSR performance face significantly lower capital constraints. Moreover, we provide evidence that both of the hypothesized mechanisms, better stakeholder engagement and transparency around CSR performance, are important in reducing... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2024
Article

Coordinating the Energy Transition: Electrifying Transportation in California and Germany

By: Nicholas Goedeking and Jonas Meckling

California and Germany share ambitious emission reduction targets. Yet California is ahead of Germany in electrifying transportation by several metrics, including the number of public charging stations. We show that variation in the politics of coordination in... View Details

Keywords: Electric Vehicles; Coordination; Technology Adoption; Infrastructure; Transportation; Government and Politics; Energy; Utilities Industry; Germany; California

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March 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Scale and Scope at Drake Real Estate Partners

By: Christina R. Wing and David Lane

Realizing in early 2021 that their pending real estate investment fund would likely be oversubscribed, Drake Real Estate Partners co-founders Nicolás Ibáñez and David Cotterman were considering how best to continue to diversify their investor base and how to optimize... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Family Business; Investment; Ownership; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States; Latin America; Chile

2020
Chapter

Foreign Direct Investment, Finance and Economic Development

By: Laura Alfaro and Jasmina Chauvin

Research has sought to understand how foreign direct investment affects host economies. This paper reviews the empirical literature, specifically addressing the question: How does FDI affect economic development of host countries and what is the role of local financial... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Condition; Development Economics

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January 2001
Case

Valuing Project Achieve

By: Mihir A. Desai and Kathleen Luchs

Project Achieve is a start-up providing information management solutions for schools. Its founders see a need for software both to manage the volumes of information necessary to administer a school and to connect parents, teachers, and students in a more effective way.... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Valuation; Venture Capital; Cost of Capital; Cash Flow; Forecasting and Prediction

14 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 14

each of which pooled the investment capital that its general partners and limited partners committed for finite lifetimes. Greylock was established against a long historical tradition of New England... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Samuel G. Hanson

Samuel G. Hanson is the William L. White Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Faculty Affiliate of the Harvard Economics department. He teaches Finance 1... View Details

Keywords: investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry; investment banking industry

May 1996 (Revised November 1997)
Case

Northeast Ventures: January 1996

By: Josh Lerner and Eric K. Jackson

Northeast Ventures, a venture capital fund focusing on the development of northeastern Minnesota, seeks to combine social goals with financial returns. This marriage poses several challenges. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Social Enterprise; Investment Funds; Minnesota