Business Ventures →
- 01 Jun 2017
- Cold Call Podcast
Building India’s First $100 Billion Company
Startups welcome growth but are often strangled by it. In this podcast, Sunil Gupta discusses how entrepreneur Vijay Shekhar Sharma is meeting this challenge with his mobile payments company Paytm. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 10 May 2017
- Research & Ideas
Amazon Web Services Changed the Way VCs Fund Startups
Starting companies is becoming so quick and cheap that venture capitalists have shifted strategy funding entrepreneurs. Now, more startups get backing—but they have to prove themselves in a hurry, according to research by Ramana Nanda and colleagues. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 May 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Survival of the Fittest: The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Firm Exit
This study examines the impact of minimum wage increases on restaurant closures in the San Francisco Bay Area, using data from 2008 through 2016 from the review platform Yelp. The study demonstrates that higher minimum wages increase closure rates among lower-rated restaurants, while higher-rated restaurants are largely insulated from changes.
- 22 Dec 2016
- Op-Ed
The Small Business Administration is a Model for How to Drive Economic Growth
Responding to a recent editorial in the Washington Post, Karen Mills argues that the Small Business Administration is an effective public-private partnership model that fuels economic growth, access, and opportunity for all Americans. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 02 Nov 2016
- Op-Ed
Government and Financial Tech Can Fix Cash Woes for Small Businesses
Cash flow is a major concern for small businesses, which, on average, hold only 27 days’ reserve. Karen Mills looks at how "fintech" and government policies can pull companies off the cash flow edge. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 17 Oct 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Self-Employment Dynamics and the Returns to Entrepreneurship
Why do workers turn to entrepreneurship when many entrepreneurs appear to earn less than what they could earn in paid employment? This is the first paper to characterize how the value of resolving uncertainty about entrepreneurial earnings varies over the lifecycle after adjusting for tax differences between entrepreneurs and paid workers. Findings suggest that helping people learn about their potential earnings in entrepreneurship, either by learning from other's experiences in self-employment or by experimenting themselves, can improve the efficiency of sorting workers across sectors.
- 25 Jan 2016
- Research & Ideas
When Negotiating a Price, Never Bid with a Round Number
Investors who offer “precise” bids for company shares yield better outcomes than those who offer round-number bids, according to research by Petri Hukkanen and Matti Keloharju. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 20 Jan 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
The Bright Side of Patents
We examine whether patents help startups grow and succeed using detailed micro data on all patent applications filed by startups at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office since 2001 and approved or rejected before 2014. We find that patent approvals help startups create jobs, grow their sales, innovate, and reward their investors.
- 24 Nov 2015
- Research & Ideas
Developing Your Next CEO for the Family Business
Family businesses have four options when considering a new CEO, but the crucial decision is whether a family member or outsider would be the best choice. John A. Davis looks at each option. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 21 Oct 2015
- Research & Ideas
How to Predict if a New Business Idea is Any Good
Professor Pian Shu tackles one of the most difficult questions in the startup world: How can you tell if a new business will succeed? Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 30 Mar 2015
- Research & Ideas
Managing the Family Business: Preparing to Sell
Most families are loath to sell the legacy business, but there are good reasons to do so, says John A. Davis. The key is making the right family preparations and proper wealth planning. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 17 Mar 2015
- Research & Ideas
Where Did My Shopping Mall Go?
The growing popularity of online shopping is remaking the world of offline shopping—stores are getting smaller, malls are getting scarcer. Rajiv Lal and José Alvarez look ahead five years at our radically transforming shopping experience. Plus: Book excerpt. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 02 Mar 2015
- Research & Ideas
Retail Reaches a Tipping Point—Which Stores Will Survive?
Part 1: The new book Retail Revolution: Will Your Brick and Mortar Store Survive? argues that ecommerce is about to deal severe blows to many familiar store-based brands—even including Walmart. Here's how retailers can fight back, according to Rajiv Lal, José Alvarez, and Dan Greenberg. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 21 Jan 2015
- Lessons from the Classroom
Managing the Family Business: Market Basket’s Lessons About Buyouts
As the Market Basket CEO showdown demonstrated, family businesses can be messy affairs—and buyouts the best solution to conflict. So why don't we see more of them? Family business expert John A. Davis explains when buyouts make sense. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 17 Nov 2014
- Lessons from the Classroom
Managing the Family Business: Are Optimists or Pessimists Better Leaders?
In general, optimists are best suited to lead family-run entrepreneurial organizations. At least until disaster strikes. John A. Davis explains why both perspectives are so valuable. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 13 Aug 2014
- Lessons from the Classroom
Managing the Family Business: Entrepreneurs Needed for Long-Run Success
Families that want to stay in business for generations don't have a choice but to encourage entrepreneurship in and out of their family company, say Michael Roberts and John Davis. Here's how. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 20 May 2014
- Research & Ideas
Managing the Family Business: Survival’s Secret Sauce
The secret sauce for surviving from generation to generation, says family-business expert John Davis, has three main ingredients: growth, talent and unity. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 12 Mar 2014
- Lessons from the Classroom
Managing the Family Business: Firing the CEO
Firing a CEO is never easy—but the task gets even more difficult in a family business. John A. Davis discusses when to change out the chief executive. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 13 Feb 2014
- Research & Ideas
Managing the Family Business: Leadership Roles
Poorly designed leadership roles set up a family business for failure. John A. Davis offers a system that produces the decisiveness and unity needed for long-term performance. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
It’s Hard to Fix the Family Business Without Offending the Family
Navigating complex relationships and understanding unwritten processes are among the many challenges of transitioning a family-owned business to the next generation. Len Schlesinger, Michael Raiche, and Roger Zhu discuss the dilemmas of a small Vietnamese restaurant in the case study “Pho Hoa Dorchester.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.