Publications

SSRN

January 1986 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Horizon Group

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of a situation confronting the co-founder of a company planning to produce software for microcomputers. The company has just completed raising money from some wealthy investors by forming an R&D Limited Partnership. Development of the program (an... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Venture Capital; Partners and Partnerships; Business Plan; Outcome or Result; Research and Development; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Information Technology Industry

August 2024 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Discerene Group: Long-Term Public-Markets Investing

By: Luis M. Viceira and Brent Schwarz

This case discusses active investing based on fundamental valuations and price distortions created by market events, and whether contractual terms between investment managers and their investors can help align incentives between long-term investors and active managers.... View Details

10 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 10, 2009

improves the visibility of a paper on the SSRN network. We also find limited evidence of gaming due to demographic factors and career concerns, and strong evidence of gaming driven by social comparisons with various peer groups. These... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Web

Hiring Organizations

Stratagen Bio Strategy& Stress-Free Stripe Success Academy Charter Schools Summit Partners Suntory Holdings Limited Supply Source Surfline\Wavetrak, Inc. SurgoCap Partners SUSI... View Details

June 2007 (Revised July 2008)
Case

Kinder Morgan, Inc. - Management Buyout

Kinder Morgan, Inc., was a leader in the transportation and distribution of energy throughout North America, managing a master limited partnership with over $35 billion in infrastructure assets. In the summer of 2006, Richard Kinder, the founder and chairman of Kinder... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Fairness; Governing and Advisory Boards; Privatization; Partners and Partnerships; Conflict of Interests; North America

Program

Succeeding as a Strategic CFO

decisions Become a strategic partner to the CEO Discover how to formulate, evaluate, and implement strategic choices that are grounded in financial metrics, but not limited to them Learn how to determine... View Details

Program

Private Equity and Venture Capital

including: General partners and junior partners of private equity and venture capital firms Principals from the limited partner community who... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Finance

March 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Amperity: First-Party Data at a Crossroads

By: Elie Ofek, Hema Yoganarasimhan and Alexis Lefort

In the summer of 2023, Amperity management was facing a critical decision on its future direction. Given the dramatic changes occurring within the digital advertising ecosystem, as concerns over consumer privacy placed limits on the ability to engage in third-party... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Technology Adoption; Business Strategy; Digital Marketing; Price; Product; Business or Company Management; Advertising Industry

27 Feb 2013
Working Paper Summaries

In Strange Company: The Puzzle of Private Investment in State-Controlled Firms

Keywords: by Mariana Pargendler, Aldo Musacchio & Sergio G. Lazzarini; Banking; Financial Services

08 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 8

non-core users when they are perceived as brand tourists. The brand tourism effect is mediated by core users' pride and moderated by brand patriotism and selectiveness of the brand. August 2013 Harvard Business Review The Limits of Scale:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Feb 2008
Research & Ideas

Putting Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector

An entrepreneurial approach, they say, allows social organizations not only to maximize value from limited resources, but also to leverage resources beyond the organization's direct control through a creation of networks. Case studies in... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Web

Actively Addressing Unconscious Bias in Recruiting - Recruiting

Diversity across all facets of the workforce including, but not limited to, race, socioeconomic status, gender, and sexual orientation, brings together individuals who each contribute unique experiences and perspectives. This diversity... View Details

26 Mar 2007
Research & Ideas

Learning from Failed Political Leadership

even interest in life beyond our country's borders, a limitation of growing importance as the global economy expands. This is evident everywhere; our boards of directors have, on average, very few executives from other countries. Our... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

August 2021
Case

Andreessen Horowitz’s Cultural Leadership Fund (A)

By: Anita Elberse, Briana Richardson and Cydni Williams

In May 2020, Chris Lyons, a partner at leading venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz receives the news that his company has reached a verbal agreement with one of Silicon Valley’s hottest social-media startups to lead its ‘Series A’ funding round, in a deal that... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Talent Management; General Management; Inclusion; Talent and Talent Management; Diversity; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Networks; Nonprofit Organizations

January 2015 (Revised April 2015)
Case

Zeal: Launching Personalized and Social Learning

By: John J-H Kim and Christine S. An

Set in 2014, this case follows John Danner and his team at Zeal as they consider their product development strategy. In February 2013, serial entrepreneurs John Danner and Sanjay Noronha co-found Zeal, an education technology start up providing a web-based, mobile... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Education Technology; MVP; Product Development; Product Market Fit; Monetization Strategy; SaaS Business Models; Education; Personalized Learning

Web

Browse All Articles, Research, & Case Studies - HBS Working Knowledge

into what’s driving and limiting the practice of skills-based hiring. The discussion ranges from degree inflation and HR automation to workforce demographics, skills-based promotion and employee retention. Also, how technology can... View Details

Web

Live from Klarman Hall - Alumni

constraints on scale, scope, and learning that have limited business growth for hundreds of years. From Airbnb to Ant Financial, research shows how AI-driven processes are vastly more scalable than traditional ones, enable companies to... View Details

Web

Value-Based Health Care - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

variety of backgrounds at all stages in their careers, and produces programming and events on a variety of health law policy and bioethics topics. The Center also hosts a leading health law policy blog, The Bill of Health. The Center has View Details

February 2022
Case

NFX Capital and Moov Technologies

By: Scott Duke Kominers and Nicole Tempest Keller

In July 2019, James Currier, a general partner at San Francisco-based NFX Ventures, was considering a seed stage investment of $1.5 million in Moov Technologies, a B2B marketplace for used industrial equipment. NFX was a venture capital firm focused on seed-stage... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Network Effects; Marketplace Matching; Digital Platforms; Market Design; Applications and Software; Semiconductor Industry; Financial Services Industry; San Francisco