Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 2, 2013

I founded the nonprofit African Institution of Technology to help universities in the region develop capabilities in emerging areas like microelectronics, biotech, and nanotechnology. With Facebook’s $115 billion market cap on its IPO day, Mark Zuckerberg created wealth nearly equivalent to half of Nigeria’s GDP in 2012.

Education 8

Education Technology IPO GDP 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

The interesting part of this shift is that VCs are taking a more holistic or "systems" approach to investing than they typically do in developed markets. Because of three significant challenges innovators face in emerging markets: Innovation ecosystems are not well-developed. Why do VCs in emerging markets take a systems approach?

Marketing 15

Marketing Venture Capitalist Biotechnology IPO 15

Harvard Business Review

JULY 24, 2017

Major organizational changes, covering everything from recruiting and branding to regulatory approvals and marketing, happened in rapid succession, with a hard deadline of 12 months to get it all done for the IPO — and 18 months from the IPO until our full separation from GE. It was a highly valued change.

Management 9

Management IPO Diversity Long-term 9

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 12, 2015

In addition, native Chinese tech companies such as Alibaba, Weibo, and Momo are having some of the most successful IPOs in U.S. From how we code to how we type, much of the world’s biggest advancements were developed with the English-speaking market in mind. Fifty-six percent of all online content in the world is in English.

Innovation 8

Innovation Globalization IPO Automotive 8

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 13, 2015

With limited exit opportunities via initial public offers ( IPOs ) and acquisitions, smart young people understand that stock options rarely bring a big payday. He invested in training his staff, but that backfired as those individuals then became more marketable and moved on. I observed their interests.

Venture Capitalist 8

Venture Capitalist IPO Entrepreneur Banking 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 7, 2016

Here’s a generalized scenario similar to cases we’ve experienced: A hot new mobile technology company lands one of the most successful IPOs of the year. Know which people in your organization are best suited to be spokespeople for which audiences and make sure that they are trained.

Planning 8

Planning Company Crisis Brand 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 4, 2013

As a consultant, I've been trained to sniff out underlings who can only say no (and aren't authorized to say yes), and strategically work to evade them. In fact, that's the goal — lazy people will get on a career development kick when they're panicked about finding a new job, and their interest will wane the moment they land one.

Venture Capitalist 8

Venture Capitalist IPO Career Follow-up 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 7, 2017

All of this indicates that Uber leaders prioritized immediately useful services like recruitment over, for example, legal compliance systems, audits, and leadership development. Too often, leaders view such investments as costly training on things that seem to be “common sense” or issues they can afford to get around to later.

Compliance 10

Compliance Hedge Human Capital Finance 10

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

The company started as a single store, but about a decade later it was a national chain on the heels of filing an IPO. We haven’t developed skills in resourcefulness. Several years ago I sat down with the CEO of a fast-growing retail business. His answer blew me away. “Say no!”

Creativity 8

Creativity Budgeting IPO Merchandising 8

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 9, 2010

Families were deeply involved in developing treatment programs. Gloria surmised that Dr. Chavez needed another round of training. She didn't doubt the franchise owner's commitment to high-quality, holistic care; he was a star pupil in the most recent training course at headquarters. Why would an IPO be so bad?

Case Study 13

Case Study Franchising Health Care Follow-up 13

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

Are Israeli companies on the verge of developing a repeatable playbook to scale their companies and become market leaders, not just acquisition fodder for the Silicon Valley giants? In 2014, for example, 18 IPOs raised a record-breaking $9.8 and the development team in Israel. But is all of that changing? We think so.

Venture Capitalist 8

Venture Capitalist Entrepreneur Marketing IPO 8