Publications

April 2022
Article

The Past Is Prologue? Venture-Capital Syndicates' Collaborative Experience and Start-Up Exits

By: Dan Wang, Emily Cox Pahnke and Rory M. McDonald

Past research has produced contradictory insights into how prior collaboration between organizations—their relational embeddedness—impacts collective collaborative performance. We theorize that the effect of relational embeddedness on collaborative success is... View Details

Keywords: Inter-organizational Networks; Collaboration; Entrepreneurship; Networks; Organizations; Performance; Venture Capital

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Article

'Myth or Reality?' The Long-run Underperformance of Initial Public Offerings: Evidence from Venture- and Nonventure-capital-backed Companies

By: Paul A. Gompers and A. Brav

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Capital; Business Ventures; Venture Capital

November 2010 (Revised August 2016)
Case

The Changing Face of Angel Investing

By: William A. Sahlman and Evan Richardson

Angel investors Ram Shriram, Mike Maples, Eric Paley, James Geshweiler, and Jim Southern discuss their investment philosophies and the changing landscape of angel investing. Questions include: • How has angel investing changed in the last few years? • How do you... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Venture Capital; Investment Funds

Educators

01 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 1

disclosure regulation (the U.K.), the analyst school-tie premium has remained large and significant over the entire sample period. Specialization and Success: Evidence from Venture Capital Authors:Paul A.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Research Summary

Overview

My focus is empirical financial accounting research, with particular interests in governance, valuation, M&A, and short-sellers. All three of my papers to date fall under the broad heading of “alternative governance mechanisms”—studies of how accounting information is... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Governance; Valuation; Law

Research Summary

Overview

My focus is empirical financial accounting research, with particular interests in governance, valuation, M&A, and short-sellers. All three of my papers to date fall under the broad heading of “alternative governance mechanisms”—studies of how accounting information is... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Governance; Valuation; Law

November 2022 (Revised December 2024)
Course Overview Note

The Entrepreneurial Manager: Spring 2025

By: Christina Wallace and Jo Tango

Every Harvard Business School first-year student enrolls in "The Entrepreneurial Manager," a course that focuses on leadership in entrepreneurial settings. This document outlines the course's goals and approach. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurs; Founders; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Leadership

2020
Working Paper

Immigration Policy Levers for U.S. Innovation and Startups

By: William R. Kerr and Sari Pekkala Kerr

Immigrants account for about a quarter of U.S. invention and entrepreneurship despite a policy environment that is not well suited for these purposes. This chapter reviews the U.S. immigration policy environment that governs how skilled migrants move to America for... View Details

Keywords: Invention; Innovation; Startups; High-tech; Immigration; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Business Startups; Venture Capital; United States

SSRN

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January 1998 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Fitzpatrick Hotel Group (B1): Niall Carroll

By: Paul A. Gompers and Catherine M. Conneely

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Perspective; Financing and Loans; Accommodations Industry; Republic of Ireland

December 1994
Case

CNW Corporation

The Blackstone Group, an LBO firm, is considering a $1.7 billion leveraged acquisition of CNW Corp., a railroad holding company. Information is provided concerning historic and protected results and the proposed financial structure of the entity. Data is presented... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Capital Structure; Leveraged Buyouts

28 Feb 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Patent Trolls and Small-Business Employment

Keywords: by Ian Appel, Joan Farre-Mensa, and Elena Simintzi

March 2001 (Revised March 2021)
Teaching Note

Heidi Roizen (TN)

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Linda-Eling Lee

Teaching Note for (9-800-228). View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Networks

07 Dec 2009
Research & Ideas

Government’s Positive Role in Kick-Starting Entrepreneurship

Public Efforts to Boost Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Have Failed—and What to Do about It. Government has played similar catalytic roles in creating hubs of innovation is places such as Tel Aviv and... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

23 Jun 2021
Research & Ideas

One More Way the Startup World Hampers Women Entrepreneurs

percent to Y Combinator’s Hacker News. And of course, they dominate the conference rooms of venture capitalists and tech companies that are making decisions on investing in new products. “When you are trying to grow a startup, the people... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

18 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

Wrap-up: Software, Telecom, and Recovery

Venture capital firms ask themselves tough questions these days. Among them: how can they dig out of the dot-com collapse? How should they invest going forward? How should the leader of a firm strike the... View Details

Keywords: by Wendy Guild & Martha Lagace; Financial Services; Technology; Communications; Telecommunications

2022
Article

The Effects of Public and Private Equity Markets on Firm Behavior

By: Shai Bernstein

In this article, I review the theoretical and empirical literature on the effects of public and private equity markets on firm behavior, emphasizing the consequences that emerge from disclosure requirements, ownership concentration, and degree of firm standardization.... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Finance And Governance; Financing Policy; Commercialization; Capital Markets; Private Equity; Public Equity; Venture Capital; Innovation and Invention; Cost of Capital

March 2017 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Floodgate: On the Hunt for Thunder Lizards

By: Rory McDonald, Alix Burke, Emma Franking and Nicole Tempest

Founded in 2008, Floodgate pioneered the “micro-VC” category, a new type of investment firm that raised smaller funds and made earlier, smaller investments in technology startups than traditional venture-capital firms. By 2015, Floodgate had raised three funds totaling... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Business Models; Angel Investors; Crowdfunding; Incubators; Accelerators; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Information Technology; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Competitive Strategy

Educators