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• Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2016 (Revised April 2018)

  Western Technology Investment

  Ramana Nanda, William A. Sahlman and Nicole Keller

  Based in Portola Valley, California, Western Technology Investment (WTI) specialized in a hybrid form of debt and equity financing for early-stage companies. Like traditional venture capital and private equity firms, WTI raised funds from institutional investors and evaluated deals. However, instead of making initial investments in the form of equity, WTI focused primarily on lending money to start-ups, charging them interest and receiving warrants that could later be converted to stock in the case of a liquidity event. Most initial investments—usually in the range of $3–$5 million—were made in tandem with or following a company’s early rounds of venture capital equity financing. In addition, like more traditional venture capital investors, WTI hoped to participate in follow-on debt and equity investments in its successful portfolio companies.

  Keywords: entrepreneurial finance; venture capital; entrepreneurship; finance; Equity; Finance; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; California;

  Citation:

  Nanda, Ramana, William A. Sahlman, and Nicole Keller. "Western Technology Investment." Harvard Business School Case 817-019, September 2016. (Revised April 2018.)  View Details

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• Exercise | August 2016 (Revised February 2018)

  Entrepreneurial Finance Problem Set

  Ramana Nanda, William A. Sahlman and Robert White

  Citation:

  Nanda, Ramana, William A. Sahlman, and Robert White. "Entrepreneurial Finance Problem Set." Harvard Business School Exercise 817-037, August 2016. (Revised February 2018.)  View Details

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• Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2018

  Private Equity, Jobs, and Productivity: Reply to Ayash and Rastad

  Steven J. Davis, John Haltiwanger, Kyle Handley, Ron S. Jarmin, Josh Lerner and Javier Miranda

  Ayash and Rastad (2017) express several concerns about our 2014 analysis of private equity buyouts. We welcome their interest in our work but think their criticisms are off the mark. Some of their claims reflect a misunderstanding of the Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Business Database (LBD) and its underlying data inputs. Because the LBD has emerged as a major laboratory for empirical studies in economics and finance, we use this opportunity to reiterate and clarify some of its important features. In a similar spirit, we elaborate on steps taken to develop our large sample of private equity buyouts. We also address Ayash and Rastad’s remarks about the empirical design of our establishment-level analysis, our methods for distinguishing between leveraged buyouts (LBOs) and other private equity transactions, bankruptcy rates among firms acquired in LBOs, their assertion that we undercount large public-to-private LBOs, and other matters.

  Keywords: Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Jobs and Positions; Performance Productivity;

  Citation:

  Davis, Steven J., John Haltiwanger, Kyle Handley, Ron S. Jarmin, Josh Lerner, and Javier Miranda. "Private Equity, Jobs, and Productivity: Reply to Ayash and Rastad." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 18-074, January 2018.  View Details

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