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My First, Failed Foray into Venture Investing
Venture capital Digital ArticleI love hearing about other people’s dreams. “Dreams,” as in: “this is what I always wanted to do with my life.” Tell me about your dream, and like Pavlov’s dogs, I begin to salivate. I almost can’t help it — encouraging people and their dreams makes me happy, and I am good at it. In […] -
Groupon Doomed by Too Much of a Good Thing
Venture capital Digital Article“Alright, you caught us. We’re actually not making any money. In fact, we are really losing a lot of money.” This is the essence of Groupon’s declaration last week that it will remove the controversial accounting metric called Adjusted Consolidated Segment Operating Income (ACSOI) from its financial statements. ACSOI essentially measures Groupon’s profits before subtracting […] -
How Blockchain Is Changing Finance
Finance & Accounting Digital ArticleIt could reduce friction and costs. -
Bootstrap Finance: The Art of Start-ups
Entrepreneurial financing Magazine ArticleEntrepreneurship is more celebrated, studied, and desirable than ever. Business school students flock to courses on entrepreneurship. Managers, fearful of losing their step on the corporate ladder, yearn to step off on their own. Policymakers pin their hopes for job creation and economic growth on start-ups rather than on the once-preeminent corporate giants. Belief in […] -
The One Thing VCs Could Do Immediately to Increase Returns
Consumer behavior Digital ArticleHow investors can start seeing more opportunities. -
There Are Only Two Types of Venture-Backed Companies
Venture capital Digital ArticleWhat type is yours? -
A Failure That Still Haunts Me
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleMy most irritating - and surprising - professional failure came from what I thought would be a straightforward success. In the immortal words of failed... -
Venture Financing and Entrepreneurial Success
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleDoes high-quality venture financing increase the success of funded ventures? My co-authors, Josh Lerner of HBS and Antoinette Schoar of MIT, and I define... -
Don't Expect New Crowdfunding Rules to Create a Startup Boom
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleSeed funding isn't in short supply. -
What High-Quality Revenue Looks Like
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleIt's not just about growth. -
When Do Consumers Prefer Crowdfunded Products?
Entrepreneurial financing Digital ArticleOne study found that people were willing to pay about 21% more for a product when they were told it was crowdfunded. -
Making Sense of Corporate Venture Capital
Finance and investing Magazine ArticleCompanies have, at best, a mixed record funding start-ups. A new framework, simple in design but powerful in application, can help identify the investments that will yield a return that matters—strategic growth. -
How the Geography of Startups and Innovation Is Changing
Global Business Digital ArticleIt's more global, more urban, and more winner-take-all. -
VCs’ Strange, Instinctual Need to Replace Founders
Venture capital Digital ArticleData show that replacing a founder often destroys value. So why is it such a common practice? -
Is the Social Sector Capitalism's R&D Lab?
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleStudents of Clay Christensen's work are familiar with his insight that "disruptive innovation" usually has its genesis in spots where the "important"... -
4 Factors That Predict Startup Success, and One That Doesn’t
Entrepreneurs and founders ResearchEvidence from more than 300 venture capital investments. -
Behind Venture Capital’s Scenes with Jeff Bussgang
Venture capital Digital ArticleI recently sat down with Jeff Bussgang of Flybridge Capital to talk about his new book, Mastering the VC Game, an insider’s view into the venture capital world. Jeff, start by giving us a little background on yourself. I was an entrepreneur at a couple of companies, most recently UPromise, a college savings loyalty program, […] -
The Founder's Dilemma: To Sell or Not to Sell?
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleWe recently did an informal survey of some of our venture capital colleagues. We asked, "What crossroads decisions are most common and challenging for... -
Mexico Needs a Venture Capital Industry
Venture capital Digital ArticleEntrepreneurship is essential for economic growth in this emerging market. -
Male and Female Entrepreneurs Get Asked Different Questions by VCs - and It Affects How Much Funding They Get
Innovation & Leadership ResearchResearch finds a new explanation for the gender gap in venture funding.
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Statements of Cash Flows: Three Examples
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details This case introduces the statement of cash flow through three examples of multi-year statements of cash flows from three unidentified companies. -
Raising capital for Financial Butler (C)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study5.00View Details This case focuses on Nick Hungerford's attempt to raise capital for his FinTech start-up, Financial Butler, (later renamed Nutmeg). The concept is a digital... -
NEW FRDM: Business Beyond the Binary (A)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details In this two-part case, in case A, a non-binary entrepreneur founded New FRDM Bodywear Ltd. (NEW FRDM) in 2015 in Toronto, Canada. The apparel and accessories... -
How Venture Capitalists Evaluate Potential Venture Opportunities
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details Four venture capitalists from leading Silicon Valley firms are interviewed about the frameworks they use to evaluate potential venture opportunities.... -
Precision Parts, Inc. (A)
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Contains a description of a decision confronting two entrepreneurs in mid-1981. They are considering purchasing a small manufacturer of precision electromechanical... -
Altos Ventures (B)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study5.00View Details In December 2021, Han Kim, Anthony Lee, and Ho Nam reflected on how far they had come since 2012. This B case provides an update on Altos Ventures' decision-making... -
From Farm Boy to Financier: Eiichi Shibusawa and the Creation of Modern Japan
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details This case describes the career of Eiichi Shibusawa (1840-1931), a serial entrepreneur who is widely known as the "father of Japanese capitalism" and as... -
AGENTS.inc: Pathways to Growth at an AI Startup
Management Case Study11.95View Details The case describes the history of AGENTS.inc. Despite being a small startup, with only four employees, that had never had a funding round, the company... -
The Business of Death Births Human Composting
Management Case Study11.95View Details The case revolves around an entrepreneur, Maggie Fleur, who manages several businesses on her family's farm and who is considering a complementary new... -
Drive Capital: A New Road for Venture
Management Case Study11.95View Details Founded by two former Sequoia Capital partners, Columbus-Ohio-based Drive Capital's mission was to build a world-class venture capital firm in the middle... -
Openspace Ventures: Sustainable Venture Capital
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details The case describes a successful Singapore-based venture capital (VC) firm, Openspace Ventures, and its decision to incorporate elements of sustainable... -
Catalys Pacific
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details In 2019, BT Slingsby founds Catalys Pacific, the first biotech "venture creation" fund in Tokyo. After convincing some of the biggest Japanese pharmaceutical... -
SIBIUS: Battling cognitive disorders
Management Case Study11.95View Details Sept 2022. Corinne Avelines, SIBIUS's CEO, had received the news that the results of the first large-scale test of the company's first product had just... -
Green Bond Research Note
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Green bonds are bond issues, used to finance new or existing projects, whose proceeds are exclusively applied to financing projects or businesses that... -
Venture Capital and Private Equity Funds: A Primer
Management Case Study8.95View Details How do venture capital and private equity funds actually work? This Technical Note covers the "when, who, and how" details: "When": fund length, extensions,... -
Will Fintechs and Central Banks Play in Emtech's Sandbox?
Management Case Study11.95View Details In February 2023, Emtech's founder Carmelle Cadet is facing a dilemma. Rapidly running out of cash, Cadet has a term sheet from a leading VC but has a... -
DexAI
Management Case Study11.95View Details During a challenging fundraising environment, the DexAI founders received two term sheets with nearly identical economic terms but very different legal... -
Blenheim Chalcot
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details In April 2019, Manoj Badale and Charles Mindenhall, co-founders of Blenheim Chalcot, were contemplating how they might go about developing their portfolio.... -
Valuing Snap After the IPO Quiet Period (A)
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Snap, the disappearing message app, went public at $17 per share on March 2, 2017, making its two 20-something founders the youngest self-made billionaires... -
Miami's Climate Tech Potential (A): The State of Play
Management Case Study11.95View Details Miami-Dade County led the work to get South Florida designated a national climate resilience tech hub, the only one of 31 focused on climate change, an...
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My First, Failed Foray into Venture Investing
Venture capital Digital ArticleI love hearing about other people’s dreams. “Dreams,” as in: “this is what I always wanted to do with my life.” Tell me about your dream, and like Pavlov’s dogs, I begin to salivate. I almost can’t help it — encouraging people and their dreams makes me happy, and I am good at it. In […] -
How to Launch a Startup in the Post-Covid Era
Global Business AdviceUnderstand the market and the needs of the consumer to stay in the game. -
Groupon Doomed by Too Much of a Good Thing
Venture capital Digital Article“Alright, you caught us. We’re actually not making any money. In fact, we are really losing a lot of money.” This is the essence of Groupon’s declaration last week that it will remove the controversial accounting metric called Adjusted Consolidated Segment Operating Income (ACSOI) from its financial statements. ACSOI essentially measures Groupon’s profits before subtracting […] -
How Blockchain Is Changing Finance
Finance & Accounting Digital ArticleIt could reduce friction and costs. -
Bootstrap Finance: The Art of Start-ups
Entrepreneurial financing Magazine ArticleEntrepreneurship is more celebrated, studied, and desirable than ever. Business school students flock to courses on entrepreneurship. Managers, fearful of losing their step on the corporate ladder, yearn to step off on their own. Policymakers pin their hopes for job creation and economic growth on start-ups rather than on the once-preeminent corporate giants. Belief in […] -
The One Thing VCs Could Do Immediately to Increase Returns
Consumer behavior Digital ArticleHow investors can start seeing more opportunities. -
There Are Only Two Types of Venture-Backed Companies
Venture capital Digital ArticleWhat type is yours? -
What Venture Capitalists Can Teach Companies About Decision-Making
A conversation with Stanford GSB professor Ilya Strebulaev on embracing disagreement. -
Statements of Cash Flows: Three Examples
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details This case introduces the statement of cash flow through three examples of multi-year statements of cash flows from three unidentified companies. -
Raising capital for Financial Butler (C)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study5.00View Details This case focuses on Nick Hungerford's attempt to raise capital for his FinTech start-up, Financial Butler, (later renamed Nutmeg). The concept is a digital...