Publications

14 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

How Can Start Ups Grow?

high levels of entrepreneurial activity, which in turn gave me a large enough sample to work with. Second, it is not an industry where venture capital activity is very high, making it a good setting to study... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Advertising

06 May 2014
First Look

First Look: May 6

transmitting information from equity to debt holders. This provides a novel argument as to why information contained in stock prices affects the real value of a corporation. It also allows us to make empirical predictions regarding the relation between shareholder... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2020 (Revised November 2020)
Case

FinTech Hive at DIFC: Creating a Fintech Ecosystem in Dubai

By: Marco Di Maggio and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in 2019 as Raja Al Mazrouei, executive vice president of FinTech Hive (the Hive) at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the first and largest financial technology accelerator in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region, contemplates her... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Emerging Markets; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Management; Information Technology; Growth Management; Financial Markets; Financial Institutions; United Arab Emirates; Middle East; Dubai

January 2022
Case

Dating Ring

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Lindsay N. Hyde

In 2015, the co-founders of Dating Ring, an online dating startup that relied on human matchmakers to arrange dates between its members, were deciding whether to either shut down the service or instead manage Dating Ring as a "lifestyle company," ramping down growth... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Failure; Business Exit or Shutdown; Internet and the Web; Venture Capital; Service Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

15 Jul 2014
First Look

First Look: July 15

tied to their competitors via shared intermediary organizations. To test our theory, we examine every relationship between entrepreneurial firms and their venture capital investors in the minimally invasive... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

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

July–August 2018
Article

The Other Diversity Dividend

By: Paul Gompers and Silpa Kovvali

Researchers have struggled to establish a causal relationship between diversity and financial performance—especially at large companies, where decision rights and incentives can be murky, and the effects of any given choice can be tough to pin down. So the authors... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Decision Making; Finance; Performance Improvement; Venture Capital

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

November 2018 (Revised June 2022)
Teaching Note

AirFox (A): Embracing the Blockchain and an ICO

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Nathaniel Schwalb

Teaching Note for HBS No. 818-097. In summer 2017, Victor Santos, CEO of AirFox, considered whether to pivot his startup towards a new product built with blockchain—a quickly growing technology at the time. AirFox was an early stage startup that sold... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Cryptocurrency; Initial Coin Offering; ICO; Business Startups; Finance; Currency; Strategy; Decision Making; United States

23 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 23

venture capital firms, offering to invest Rs 200 million in return for an equity stake in the company. His dream of transforming Getit from a regional print company into a digital company with broad... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

9 AM – 10 AM EDT, 30 Oct 2019
HBS Online

HBS Online Entrepreneurship Essentials

Master a proven framework for building and financing new ventures and learn to speak the language of the start-up world. Program Dates: October 30, 2019 - December 27, 2019 View Details

9 AM – 10 AM EDT, 12 Jun 2019
HBS Online

HBS Online Entrepreneurship Essentials

Master a proven framework for building and financing new ventures and learn to speak the language of the start-up world. Program Dates: June 12, 2019 - July 10, 2019 View Details

9 AM – 9 AM EST, 14 Nov 2018

HBX Entrepreneurship Essentials

Master a proven framework for building and financing new ventures and learn to speak the language of the start-up world. Program Dates: November 14, 2018 - December 12, 2018 View Details

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

October 1996 (Revised March 2011)
Background Note

Note on Valuation in Private Equity Settings, A

By: Josh Lerner and John Willinge

This note discusses several ways in which venture-backed firms can be valued, including comparables, net present value, decision-tree analysis, and the "venture capital method." View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Investment; Valuation

February 2012 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Bain Capital: Outback Steakhouse

By: Paul Gompers, Kristin Mugford and J. Daniel Kim

Bain Capital had purchased Outback Steakhouse in 2007 and despite the myriad initiatives to improve operations, the financial collapse in 2008 threatened the company's ability to meet its loan covenants. Outback's performance steadily declined throughout the year. How... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Performance Expectations; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Services Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

9 AM – 10 AM EDT, 03 Apr 2019
HBS Online

HBS Online Entrepreneurship Essentials

Master a proven framework for building and financing new ventures and learn to speak the language of the start-up world. Program Dates: April 3, 2019 - May 1, 2019 View Details

9 AM – 9 AM EDT, 12 Sep 2018
HBS Online

HBX Entrepreneurship Essentials

Master a proven framework for building and financing new ventures and learn to speak the language of the start-up world. Program Dates: September 12, 2018 - October 10, 2018 View Details

August 2022
Supplement

Sweet Teez Bakery: Projecting the Dough’s Rise Financial Supplement

By: Emily R. McComb, Mel Martin and Amy Klopfenstein

Abstract: In 2021, the HBS Impact Investment Fund student team met with entrepreneur Teresa Maynard, who had applied for a $25,000 impact investment loan. The students thought the former Harvard Data Scientist’s bakery business, Sweet Teez Bakery, showed promise.... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investment; Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Finance; Investment; Goods and Commodities; Financial Reporting; Small Business; Food and Beverage Industry; Massachusetts; United States