If you spend some time studying the kinds of decisions people make and the outcomes of those decisions, you'll find that humanity does not have a particularly impressive track record. In an excerpt from their book, Decisive, the authors describe four 'villains' of good decision making, including 'narrow framing' and 'overconfidence'; then then provide a four-step model for overcoming these biases and making better decisions.

This case describes a decision confronting the founder of Nantero, a company developing a new semiconductor technology. The company needs to raise additional venture capital. Potential investors have competing visions for the company, and its business model. Some investors want the company to license its technology to semiconductor companies. Others want the company to become a "lableless" semiconductor company producing and selling its own products. The question for the team at Nantero is, what model makes sense and which investor offers the most attractive terms?

Impenetrable strategy statements can't unite employees behind an organization's goals, but concrete language and stories can.

Describes a set of decisions confronting the management team of a rapidly growing online psychological testing and social networking company. They can either sell the company to a large public company, raise another round of capital from a preeminent venture capital fund, or continue to grow using existing positive cash flow.

Jeremy Moon, CEO of Icebreaker, maker of merino-fiber activewear, thinks about the strengths and weaknesses of staying focused on his rapidly expanding U.S. and European markets vs. broadening his attack to include China. If he enters China, should he continue his current strategy of pushing the technical merits of the merino fabric, or should he go the inherently subjective fashion route, given that the technical apparel market in China is virtually nonexistent.

Jeremy Moon, CEO of Icebreaker, merino wool, outdoor apparel manufacturer, believed the company could be a big hit in the United States, despite the presence of entrenched rivals. But Icebreaker clearly needed a new distribution approach. One option was to position Icebreaker as a brand selling fashionable sportswear. A second option was to mirror the strategy that had been effective in New Zealand--distributing through outdoor and snow sports retailers. A final option was to delay U.S. retail distribution and sell exclusively over the Internet, using direct-to-customer advertising.

Andy Khubani, the CEO of Idea Village, a company that markets to consumers via direct-response TV ads, must decide whether to launch a campaign touting a hair removal product for women. Explains the direct-response industry and contrasts its methodology with traditional consumer goods marketing.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

The three founders of a London-based, start-up smoothie company must decide between three growth options: expansion of the existing product line into Europe, extension of the brand into other product categories, or continued organic growth within the United Kingdom.

The founder and CEO of a CRM software start-up must decide between an attractive acquisition offer and the opportunity to go public. Discusses the growth of the company--including a lengthy discussion of entrepreneurial bootstrapping--as well as an aborted IPO attempt in 2000. The central question is whether the company will create more value by staying independent or by joining a larger organization.

Provides background on search funds and follows two partners as they try to raise financing for a search fund.

The Valhalla Partners venture capitial firm introduced a new approach to the due-diligence process. An internal due-diligence report analyzes Telco Exchange, a startup company in the IT software space. An extended excerpt examines the trade-offs involved in the new due-diligence process and whether Valhalla should invest in Telco Exchange.