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New research on venture capital from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including how venture capitalists make decisions, the economics of private equity partnerships, and angel investments.
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COVID Not Slowing VC Investment

by Danielle Kost

Despite the economic uncertainty, most venture capitalists expect their investments to outperform major equity indexes and are still funding new endeavors, says Paul Gompers. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Venture Capitalists and COVID-19

by Paul A. Gompers, Will Gornall, Steven N. Kaplan, and Ilya A. Strebulaev

This survey of more than 1,000 venture capitalists finds that the VC industry and its portfolio companies have reduced their activity less than in previous recessions and have been more resilient than many other sectors of the global economy.

Does Venture Capital Attract Human Capital? Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

by Shai Bernstein, Kunal Mehta, and Richard Townsend

Using a randomized field experiment conducted on a large online search platform, this study illustrates how investments by top venture capital investors attract potential employees and improve the pool of candidates available for the startup.

Fencing Off Silicon Valley: Cross-Border Venture Capital and Technology Spillovers

by Ufuk Akcigit, Sina T. Ates, Josh Lerner, Richard Townsend, and Yulia Zhestkova

This study of foreign corporate investment transactions from 32 countries between 1976 and 2015 finds these investments pose a trade-off: While they support young firms in pursuing innovations they could not otherwise afford, they also generate knowledge for the foreign investors.

The Evolution of CEO Compensation in Venture Capital-Backed Startups

by Michael Ewens, Ramana Nanda, and Christopher Stanton

Resolving uncertainty related to market demand—so called “product-market” fit—marks a key inflection point in the compensation contract for CEOs of venture-capital backed firms.

Financial Distancing: How Venture Capital Follows the Economy Down and Curtails Innovation

by Sabrina T. Howell, Josh Lerner, Ramana Nanda, and Richard Townsend

Common wisdom holds that VC investment and VC-backed startups are relatively insulated from downturns. This study shows that the relative quantity and quality of innovation declines more for VC-backed firms than for other types of firms during downturns.

Why Backstage Capital Invests in ‘Underestimated’ Entrepreneurs

Laura Huang discusses VC Arlan Hamilton’s strategy of backing entrepreneurs who have been ignored because of stereotypes, biases, and preconceptions. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

How Entrepreneurs Can Turn Lead Into Gold

by Michael Blanding

Innovative about creating new products, entrepreneurs often lose imagination when it comes to funding their dreams. Andy Wu reveals alternatives beyond friends and family. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Diversity Boosts Profits in Venture Capital Firms

by Michael Blanding

VC firms that score high in diversity among their partners also tend to be more profitable, according to Paul Gompers. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Is 'Gut Feel' a Good Reason to Invest in a Startup?

by Michael Blanding

Most investments in startups should never be made, at least when using by-the-numbers reasoning. But funded they are. Laura Huang believes investors use gut instinct to manage that risk. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Op-Ed: Why BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Is Not a Socialist

by Bill George

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s open letter to CEOs has reignited the “shareholders versus stakeholders” debate. Bill George says it's actually not much of a debate: mission-driven, values-centered companies perform better. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Private Equity and Financial Fragility During the Crisis

by Shai Bernstein, Josh Lerner, and Filippo Mezzanotti

Examining the activity of almost 500 private equity-backed companies during the 2008 financial crisis, this study finds that during a time in which capital formation dropped dramatically, PE-backed companies invested more aggressively than peer companies did. Results do not support the hypothesis that private equity contributed to the fragility of the economy during the recent financial crisis.

Coordination Frictions in Venture Capital Syndicates

by Ramana Nanda and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

A startup typically has more than one investor, each with different incentives. Drawing on the authors’ experience, this paper documents frictions occurring when VCs with differing objectives work together in syndicates. Entrepreneurs must be careful about selecting and building the syndicate of VCs who back their firm.

Amazon Web Services Changed the Way VCs Fund Startups

by Michael Blanding

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; Comment(s) posted.

Patent Trolls and Small-Business Employment

by Ian Appel, Joan Farre-Mensa, and Elena Simintzi

Patent trolls are organizations that own patents but do not make or use the patented technology directly, instead using their patent portfolios to target firms with patent-infringement claims. This paper provides evidence that state anti-troll laws have had a net positive effect for small firms in high-tech industries. There is no significant effect for larger or non-high-tech firms.

Diversity in Innovation

by Paul A. Gompers and Sophie Q. Wang

This study discusses a systematic and persistent lack of female, Hispanic, and African American labor market participation in the innovation sector, through both entrepreneurs and the venture capitalists that fund them.

The Persistent Effect of Initial Success: Evidence from Venture Capital

by Ramana Nanda, Sampsa Samila, and Olav Sorenson

To understand better what channels might account for persistence in the fund-level performance of private equity firms, the authors examine the individual investments underlying fund-level returns.

How Do Venture Capitalists Make Decisions?

by Paul A. Gompers, William Gornall, Steven N. Kaplan, and Ilya A. Strebulaev

This study surveys 885 institutional VCs at 681 firms asking how they make decisions across eight areas: deal sourcing; investment selection; valuation; deal structure; post-investment value-added; exits; internal VC firm issues; and external VC firm issues.

Venture Capital Data: Opportunities and Challenges

by Steven N. Kaplan and Josh Lerner

Venture capital is a relatively small financial institution receiving a large amount of theoretical, empirical, policy, and media interest—perhaps because venture capital encompasses the extremes of corporate finance challenges: uncertainty, information asymmetry, and asset intangibility—and yet has been successful at growing many leading companies. This paper looks at the availability of information about venture capital. While it is it is difficult to paint in definitive terms the level of investment activity and fund performance, the quality of information available has increased in recent years and will likely continue to do so going forward.

How Small Investors Can Bet Big on Brands They Love

LOYAL3 allows consumers to make small stock purchases of companies they love. In this Cold Call podcast, Luis M. Viceira discusses LOYAL3's move into IPOs and the idea that shareholders make better customers. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.