E444
Ilya Strebulaev, Theresia Gouw Ranzetta, David Hoyt
2013
This note describes the tasks that fill the working day of a venture capitalist. Those functions involved in investing (deal sourcing, due diligence, and related tasks) often receive the most attention from students. However, interviews with experienced…
F306A
George Parker, Alan Rappaport, Jaclyn Foroughi, Vanessa Lide
2013
Paul Schroder had recently celebrated his sixty-eighth birthday and was beginning to feel his age. While he recognized that there were many good years ahead, he also realized that it was not too early to begin to think seriously about his retirement and…
F285
Michael Kennedy, Debra McCoy, William Meehan III, Paul Pfleiderer
2013
The Global Environment Fund (GEF) is a private equity fund focused on investments in environmental and energy solutions in both developed and developing markets. The fund is currently examining the strategy of one of its portfolio companies–NEOgás, a…
F308
George Parker, Alan Rappaport, Jaclyn Foroughi
2013
Richard Lund had reached an important crossroads in his life. At age 65, Lund had had a great deal of success—and amassed much wealth—but he needed to devise a plan for the future. Namely, he needed to figure out what to do with the wealth of which he was…
E442
Arar Han, Ilya A. Strebulaev
2012
Angel investment in new technology firms has grown in prominence and popularity in the 21st century, particularly in the Silicon Valley. This case reviews the landscape of angel investors, describes the decision making process of an angel consortium…
E440
Arar Han, Ilya A. Strebulaev
2012
The world of early-stage financing has undergone many changes over the years. In this note, we first document the historical roots of early-stage investors, and describe important milestones along the developmental path. We then describe the types of…
RE137 old version
Douglas Abbey, Chris Mahowald, Max Lamont
2012
In March 2008, a group of investors considered purchasing 8,300 residential lots in 11 states from one of the largest U.S. homebuilders, at a price of 10 cents on the dollar. The deal would also involve purchasing a partially-built condominium complex…
F278
William Meehan III, Paul Pfleiderer, Michael Kennedy, Debra McCoy, Sheila Melvin
2012
This case describes the co-founders and leadership team of Asia Alternatives Management (“Asia Alt”), a private equity fund-of-funds focused on Asia, as they consider whether or not to invest in Vietnam. The case recounts the history of Asia Alt and its…
RE137
Douglas Abbey, Chris Mahowald, Max Lamont
2012
In March 2008, a group of investors considered purchasing 8,300 residential lots in 11 states from one of the largest U.S. homebuilders, at a price of 10 cents on the dollar. The deal would also involve purchasing a partially-built condominium complex…
F280
William Meehan III, Paul Pfleiderer, Michael Kennedy, Debra McCoy
2012
In 2007, Standard Chartered Bank, one of the largest financial institutions in the world, launched an African Private Equity Practice under a preexisting principal finance program. The case follows the head of the group, Peter Baird as he overviews the…
E428B
Mark Leslie
2011
John Beck, CEO of LightSpeed Computers, is seeking $10 million in venture capital financing to get his company off the ground after its initial seed funding. In Parts A through C, John faces a number of challenging scenarios, starting with the request…
RE136
Doug Abbey, Nori Lietz
2011
In late spring 2010, Liv Hugen returned to her native Scandinavia to relax before assuming responsibility over the real estate portfolio for her government’s sovereign wealth fund. The fund’s composite portfolio was expected to grow to approximately $500…
SM191
Lyn Denend, William Meehan III
2011
Jane Chen (GSB 08) and Brian Trelstad (GSB 99) had known one another for years. Trelstad, the chief investment officer of the nonprofit global venture fund Acumen Fund, had been a mentor to Chen and her colleagues as they worked to develop a low cost…
F276
Jonathan Berk, Debra Schifrin
2011
The Ameritor family of mutual funds was nicknamed the “Dead Man Funds” because of its terrible performance and the assumption that those who kept their money in the funds had no choice, that is, they were dead. Established in the 1950s, the funds boasted…
F275
John Beshears, Debra Schifrin
2011
The case examines HelloWallet, the online, independent financial guidance service, in the context of behavioral finance concepts. It also looks at the specific challenges faced by online personal financial management (PFM) systems. In addition, the case…
RE134
Douglas Abbey
2010
In November 2008, in the depths of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, Hamid Moghadam, CEO of industrial REIT AMB, had to act decisively to reverse the sell-off in AMB shares and position the company to take advantage of future…
E400
Mark Leslie, Robert Joss
2010
This case presents two vignettes from the perspective of Laura White, a newly-promoted manager of the Cook Islands operations for a large Australian bank. In Vignette A, White learns of the existence of an Offshore Banking Unit (OBU) – the source of…
F273
Jonathan Berk, Nate Blair
2009
As James A.C. Kennedy, CEO and president of T. Rowe Price Group, reviewed the 2008 annual letter to shareholders, he reflected on the state of the economy and his firm. 2008 had been a horrendous year for the financial markets and saw the demise or…
F271
Katherine Bose, George Parker
2007
In early 2007, Tech Roads management was assessing its financial needs for the coming year. A seven-year-old company started in Silicon Valley, Tech Roads was an online business-to-business used vehicle marketplace that focused on the wholesale used car…
F270
J. Duffie, Erin Yurday
2004
Freddie Mac, a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) chartered by Congress in 1970, was one of the U.S. housing market’s largest supporters. At year-end 2003, Freddie Mac’s total mortgage portfolio reached a total principal of $1.4 trillion. The U.S…
F268
J. Duffie, Erin Yurday
2004
With the increased liquidity in markets for credit derivatives around the turn of the century, coupled with dramatically increased corporate default rates, fixed-income investors and buyers of credit protection were receptive to a new generation of…
F234
George Parker, Ann Pattyn
2003
In April 1987, financial executives of Tri-tech Computer were meeting to determine the form of a capital issue of $200 million needed for an acquisition that would complement Tri-tech’s current business. Financing alternatives available to the company…
F202
George Parker
2003
In October 2002 Mr. Richard Allan, an assistant credit analyst for Wel-Bilt Furniture Company, was concerned about changes in two of Wel-Bilt’s accounts in Minnesota—Lloyd’s, Inc. of Minneapolis and Barclay Brothers in St. Paul. He therefore brought the…
F168
George Parker
2003
The financial information form 1997-2001 is presented in the case. Students are asked to assess significant trends, issues faced by the company and identify a financing challenge the company will face if sales continue to grow at a fast rate.
