Publications

January 2000 (Revised September 2000)
Case

Casablanca Finance Group

Examines the founding and development of an investment bank in Morocco. Two Moroccan expatriates return from Paris and enter the brokerage business. Over the next six years they build the leading financial services firm in the country. Concludes with a series of... View Details

Keywords: Investment Banking; Business Startups; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

September 1991
Case

Momenta Corp. (B)

Momenta is a one-year-old corporation that has sought to build a distinct culture and identity through a structured process and organized rituals. The company is seeking to be a major player in the highly competitive pen-based computer market and has attracted... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Organizational Culture; Business Startups

18 Oct 2022
News

Startups, Don’t Pin Your Hopes on VC Dry Powder

12 Jul 2022
News

Expanding the Power to Prosper

After building her career on Wall Street, with roles at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, Stella Dyer (MBA 1994) launched Millicent, a blockchain-based company that Dyer hopes will make the global banking system more inclusive. Funded in part by British government... View Details

Keywords: Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Finance

18 Sep 2019
News

Buffett Protégé Britt Cool to Start Own Firm

Photo via The Wall Street Journal Photo via The Wall Street Journal Tracy Britt Cool (MBA 2009) is leaving Berkshire Hathaway after a decade to start her own investment firm, reports the Wall Street Journal. Britt Cool is currently the CEO of the Pampered Chef and... View Details

01 Sep 2005
News

Business Plan Contest Has Many Winners

With its ninth annual competition last May, the HBS Business Plan Contest has become a well-established start-up that hits “home runs” every year. This year’s traditional track winner was Karen Grajwer (MBA ’05), founder of Uplift, an Internet and retail-store venture... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

16 Mar 2010
News

New Site Offers Free Wardrobe Advice

Keywords: apparel consulting; fashion consulting

19 May 2016
News

Creating a Public Greenway in Northern California’s Scenic Wine Country

Chuck McMinn (MBA 1978) is a man on the move as founder and chair of the Napa Valley Vine Trail Coalition, a 47-mile bike and pedestrian route that will connect the entire region by 2020. “It’s very psychically rewarding. The trail will be there for 100 years,” says... View Details

12 Apr 2023
News

Step Change

Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Spotify More Skydeck episodes Hi, my name is Julia Hanna. I'm a writer and editor for the HBS Alumni Bulletin. In 2019, I met Egyptian alumna Amal Enan (MBA 2014) when she was on campus for her 5th reunion. Enan had already held a... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; entrepreneurship; women; venture capital; Egypt; developing economies; Finance

12 Oct 2017
Blog Post

Why I Spent this Summer Coding

minimal viable product (MVP) for our mental health startup idea, and to achieve that, I decided to level up my technical skills through an intensive coding program for three main reasons: 1. Entrepreneurial empowerment2. Future of... View Details

20 Mar 2025
Blog Post

Scaling Climate Tech Innovation with Lee Scott (MBA 2023)

invested in my favorite startups and then reached out to HBS alumni at those orgs. A handful of these coffee chats turned into interviews. I ultimately decided on a Senior Associate role with Trellis Climate, a catalytic capital program... View Details

March 2021
Case

CashDrop (A)

By: Rembrand Koning, Paul A. Gompers and Sarah Gulick

In July 2020, Ruben Flores-Martinez had launched a startup, CashDrop, which provided easy and cheap sales options for small businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic helped CashDrop quickly grow. Flores-Martinez, who had previously sought and been denied venture capital... View Details

Keywords: Payment Systems; Small Business; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Online Technology; Technology Industry; Financial Services Industry; Chicago; Illinois

June 2020
Teaching Note

Catalant's Operating System for the Future of Work

By: Christopher Stanton, William R. Kerr, James Palano and Kendall Smith

This case touches on the topics of project-based work, agile methodology, and skill and talent management through Catalant's evolution as a company. Catalant’s journey to becoming a software platform and talent marketplace provides context for students to explore new... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Transformation; Business Startups

June 2015
Case

Silicon Fen

By: Tom Nicholas, David Chambers and Matthew G. Preble

Keywords: Information Technology; Industry Clusters; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Technology Industry; England; California

June 2008 (Revised July 2008)
Case

How Serial Entrepreneurs Build and Manage a Board of Directors in a Venture-Backed Start Up

By: Michael J. Roberts, William A. Sahlman and Sasha Novakovich

This case includes structured interviews with four serial entrepreneurs about the way in which they built and used their boards in each of their companies and what they have learned through that process. These entrepreneurs were asked similar questions, such as "How do... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards

June 2000
Case

Hollydazzle.com

This case describes the unique underlying economics of a start-up Internet retailing company. It highlights the fact that costs in that setting have a component that varies with volume and thus seriously impacts profitability. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Retail Industry

October 1995
Case

Centex Telemanagement, Inc. (A)

By: William A. Sahlman and Andrew S. Janower

Contains a description of the events surrounding the financing of Centex Telemanagement, Inc. by Sierra Ventures, a venture capital fund. The case is written from the perspective of the venture capitalists and is designed to teach students about the process of venture... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans

July 1990
Background Note

Note on Acquiring Bank Credit

By: Amar Bhide and Howard H. Stevenson

Outlines the issues and alternatives faced by start-up businesses in attracting bank credit. The topics covered are how to lay the groundwork for establishing a banking relationship, selecting a bank, preparing an application, and negotiating a loan. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Credit; Financing and Loans; Management; Negotiation; Relationships