Harvard Business Review

JUNE 9, 2014

For as long as it has been an industry, these have been the only two ways for a venture capital-backed company to succeed. It is incredibly hard to hold an IPO. Ultimately, high-risk venture capital investors need to be rewarded, ideally with high returns, for an ecosystem of innovation to be sustainable.

Entrepreneur 8

Entrepreneur Venture Capitalist Mezzanine Short-term 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 7, 2018

More recently, it has gained attention as a way to finance new ventures, through what is known as an Initial Coin Offering (ICO). Less noticed, though, is ICOs appear almost antithetical to the standard approach to financing a risky venture. Blockbuster capital raises will always occur in unusual situations (e.g.,

Cost 8

Cost Decentralization Finance Entrepreneur 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 18, 2012

Many venture capitalists are up in the arms because their returns are down, their funds are drying up, and there appear to be a declining number of entrepreneurs pursuing big ideas. Unfortunately, venture capitalists have mixed up their causality. No 20,000 tech jobs. I know many smart investors didn't.

Venture Capitalist 15

Venture Capitalist Software Entrepreneur Engineering 15

Harvard Business Review

JULY 18, 2012

Many venture capitalists are up in the arms because their returns are down, their funds are drying up, and there appear to be a declining number of entrepreneurs pursuing big ideas. Unfortunately, venture capitalists have mixed up their causality. No 20,000 tech jobs. I know many smart investors didn't.

Venture Capitalist 15

Venture Capitalist Software Entrepreneur Engineering 15

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 27, 2014

Companies and venture capitalists chase hot markets. Venture capital magnified this boom and bust cycle: firms were especially likely to enter markets that had recently attracted VC funding, and VCs moved into markets that had recently attracted VC funding (especially those that had attracted attention from large, high-status VCs).

Entrepreneur 8

Entrepreneur Venture Capitalist Business Incubator IPO 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 23, 2013

Many small businesses don’t require the sort of financing required by firms in pursuit of s-curve growth. But for an important subset of the business world — firms in pursuit of explosive growth — raising capital from angel investors or venture capitalists is an early step on a long and uncertain road to success.

IPO 8

IPO Venture Capitalist Entrepreneur Competitive Advantage 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 10, 2013

So Puerto Rican entrepreneurs hire consultants to badger government procurement to pay up, and in parallel they jack up their prices to finance the long receivables cycle. For example, it is nearly impossible for scaling ventures in many countries, including Brazil and Denmark, to count on an IPO for a successful exit.

Entrepreneur 8

Entrepreneur IPO Incentives Venture Capitalist 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 6, 2014

content (news, finance, weather) into two Chinese languages, and directory access to 20,000 web sites, an approach that the company had adopted elsewhere. The company was owned by management, venture capitalists, and SoftBank. On the finance and deal side, we also felt a strong kinship with Tsai.

Chief Financial Officer 8

Chief Financial Officer Operations Learning-by-Doing IPO 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 27, 2018

The number of listed firms can decline because of three developments: 1) bankruptcy, failure, or closure of listed firms, 2) delisting of firms going private or acquired, and 3) decrease in number of initial public offerings (IPOs). Chief finance officers increasingly question the ability of a day trader to value a digital company.

IPO 8

IPO Company First-mover Advantage Intangible Assets 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 19, 2016

In venture capital-financed, high-growth technology startups, only 9% of entrepreneurs are women. Of course, VC-financed tech startups are different from the general workforce. They suggest that’s why female entrepreneurs have trouble securing financing from venture capitalists.

Venture Capitalist 8

Venture Capitalist Finance Succession IPO 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 24, 2017

Venture capitalists, who generally have been standoffish to the ICO phenomenon, are now becoming more interested in it for a number of reasons. ICOs are the Wild West of financing — they sit in a grey zone where the U.S. Just as venture capitalists are taking a hard look at this new phenomenon, so should we all.

Venture Capitalist 9

Venture Capitalist Due Diligence Finance Long-term 9

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

Once enough technologists and startups are concentrated in one place, that place becomes a magnet for venture capitalists and more talent. In 2014, for example, 18 IPOs raised a record-breaking $9.8 So how do Israeli ventures scale up? They spend more time on strategy, go-to-market, business development, and financing.

Venture Capitalist 8

Venture Capitalist Entrepreneur Marketing IPO 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 1, 2017

For example, consider how new business ventures access growth capital. Traditionally, companies target angel investors in the early stages of a new business, and later look to venture capitalists, eventually culminating in an initial public offering (IPO) on a stock exchange. There is little to no regulatory oversight.

Finance 8

Finance IPO Banking Venture Capitalist 8