"Working with Lawyers" explores effective management of external legal counsel in business. It highlights lawyers as precise "legal software engineers" and advises clients to balance expert advice with broader business goals. Building a trusted advisor relationship and realistic cost management are crucial. Early lawyer involvement, understanding the legal team, and recognizing cognitive biases are emphasized. Reading legal documents and avoiding last-minute changes are essential. Mistakes often result from communication breakdowns, necessitating efficient process management and communication channels for successful collaboration.

This case study examines the founding of Vitana, a dentistry-focused search fund founded by Ashish Bagai, Monika Srivastava, and Amir Fardshi. In this case, students are encouraged to explore the advantages and disadvantages of being solo founders versus having founding partners. The case also delves into the frameworks used to identify attributes, skills and criteria for evaluating prospective co-founders. Additionally, the case examines the potential risks of starting a new venture with friends and family, and strategies for mitigating those risks. Furthermore, students are encouraged to explore the complexities and issues of governance that may arise in a three-person founding team.

The Rowell & Mackenzie case follows husband-and-wife executives Sarah Rowell and Scott Mackenzie as they weigh the decision whether or not to embark on a search fund. The case addresses the potential benefits and drawbacks of the search fund experience including financial outcomes, lifestyle impact, alternatives, and career trajectory.

This case follows the story of Jay Davis and Jason Pananos, classmates from Harvard Business School who started a search fund, Nashton Partners. The case covers their decision to launch a search fund, their investment objectives and goals, and then the search process over a two-year period. The core of the case discusses two specific acquisition opportunities the fund is considering - United Energy Services and Vector Disease Control Inc. There are clear advantages and drawbacks to both opportunities, and the partners must make a decision about what to do before the search fund runs out of money.

The Unified Dental Care case follows search fund leaders Jason Jackson and Olaide Lawal as they evaluate whether or not to acquire Unified Dental Care, a mid-sized dental practice in Detroit. The case addresses managing audits, accounting issues, and other issues of trust with a seller, as well as handling communications with a search fund board of investors.

This case describes the formation of Trista Engel and Jessica Markowitz's search fund. It begins by describing their process for deciding if they should pursue entrepreneurship through acquisition and, if so, if they should partner together. Upon deciding to raise a search fund, the duo work through the process of fundraising. Surprised by the positive response, they are faced with deciding who they should choose to have as investors.

This case describes the tumultuous experience Eduardo Ruiz had as CEO of Retail Services & Technologies. Ruiz had acquired Arizona-based RST at the end of his search process, but soon began to experience difficulties with the seller and former CEO. These difficulties strained Ruiz's relationships with his board, employees, and key customers. As the situation deteriorated, he faced the prospect of filing for bankruptcy.

This case describes how Laura Franklin and William Colt conducted their entrepreneurial acquisition process. After the duo honed their method for contacting potential sellers, they found a company they were excited to close a deal with. Over the course of many months of diligence, and overcoming a large mistake, the duo were prepared to acquire their ideal company - then COVID-19 hit, leading them to consider pausing the deal.

The Eyewitness Surveillance II case tells the story of Rush Arnold and RT McCloy, friends who met while studying at Wharton, who raise a search fund under the name Channelstone Partners. In the fall of 2010, after having spent two-thirds of their search fund capital and reviewed over 200 companies, they came across Eyewitness Surveillance, a company specializing in the use of video technology to protect the assets of car dealerships. Eyewitness' cofounder, Vince Redland, was interested in selling the company to pursue other interests and Arnold and McCloy found the industry, company, and deal all compelling. Over the course of the next two months, they engaged in a due diligence process which further validated their interest in the company, but also raised several red flags. Among the issues highlighted in due diligence included widespread employee disgruntlement, particularly with Vince (who was also the top sales person), a reluctance to share detailed financial information, and an 11th hour disagreement about a contract clause stipulating that the purchase price would go down if monthly revenues declined after the close. Despite having conducted a thorough and in-depth due diligence process, Arnold and McCloy were at the end of their search capital and facing a deal that was on the brink. They were now faced with the question of whether or not they wanted to charge ahead, despite the red flags, or walk away, knowing that this could potentially be the end of the road.

Bonuses are an important part of any CEO's toolkit. This white paper outlines specific steps to follow in establishing or revamping a company's bonus structure, and how this part of the compensation system can reward outstanding results and help retain star performers. Computing bonuses with specific targets, and tallying the results on a quarterly rather than annual basis, for instance, will boost accountability and help keep managers and employees focused on reaching the specified goals.

Buying a company is a high-stakes and complex process, and involves an in-depth review of hundreds of pages of legal documents. This white paper gives a full listing of these important documents and what each document should detail - along with practical guidance on what relationships, responsibilities, and information these documents will spell out. In addition, there are recommendations on which aspects of these documents warrant closer scrutiny, and practical suggestions to keep legal fees from escalating needlessly.

How much information is enough, when it comes to investor reports? For early CEOs, this white paper offers practical advice and best practices on the preparation of these reports. The best reports, the white paper argues, focus on essential information, presented in a clear and transparent manner. This information would include key performance indicators, for instance, but also capture operational details that might not be included in the standard financials. The white paper lays out a clear format for writing these reports, with details on what to include in the main body of the report as well as the appendices.

Andrea Jung became CEO of Avon Products Inc. in 1999 - the first woman to ever hold the position since the foundation of the iconic cosmetics company, in 1886. In a few years at the helm, Jung tripled the company's profits, modernized its culture and was elected one of "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women" by Forbes. By 2005, however, Avon had become bloated with too many hierarchical layers and profits came up flat for the first time in five years. In order to address the looming crisis, Jung was forced to make a difficult decision: Avon would lay off one-third of all employees in middle and senior management positions, which represented approximately 12,000 jobs in total. Even more challenging than making the decision, however, would be executing it successfully while confronting an array of hard questions. How should the CEO announce the layoff to the company? Who should be in the room when she informed some of her direct reports that she would have to let them go? How should she deal with one of her most important executives when that person begged to stay? What was the best way to address questions related to gender and race in the context of the layoff? Should she make any exceptions to the process? There were no easy answers.

In your first year as chief executive officer (CEO), you will encounter a host of management challenges and opportunities-all of which can be navigated more skillfully if you can tap into the insights and perspectives of a handful of seasoned operators and investors. For this reason, your board can have a significant impact on the company's performance. Unfortunately, CEOs often get far less value out of their boards in the first few years than they might otherwise. The purpose of this note is to ensure that CEOs use their boards as effectively and efficiently as possible.

Donatella, LLC will be losing a key board member in about two years, and the current board members must work to find a new member to replace him with someone with similar operational experience. After finding Peter Jeter, the company struggles with how to pay him, as detailed in an email chain between the board of directors. Sara Johnson, Donatella's CEO, becomes stuck in a situation of choosing to overpay this new board member, upset her board members, or restart the hiring process.

The Black Iris Systems vignette describes a brief scenario where the CEO of Black Iris Systems, Malcolm Briggs, receives opposing emails from two of his board members re: their differing points of view about their participation in the board. The scenario causes him to evaluate the role of board members and his goals for the organization.

Discusses the trials and eventual success of two young Harvard MBAs who chose to purchase a company immediately upon graduation from their MBA program. Having no assets of their own, Kirk and Jamie raised a search fund to meet expenses during their search process, and then spent two years locating an acquisition. Offers unique opportunities to value a business and explore fundraising opportunities. In addition, provides motivation for MBAs interested in going into business for themselves directly out of the MBA program.