Fairview Capital is a pioneering alternative assets investment manager, as it is the first U.S. private equity fund of funds that focused on investing in private equity and venture capital funds managed by African-Americans and other minority investment managers. This case study focuses on Fairview's strategic decisions that ultimately led to the growth and expansion of its investment portfolio to over $3 billion.

Corey Thomas, CEO of the company Rapid7, must decide if it is the right time to take the 15-year old startup public, as it stood poised to capitalize on what appears to be the next frontier for digital technology markets - cybersecurity. In spite of positive industry trends, there are some nagging concerns that this might be a risky time in the public capital markets. The company had just completed an acquisition and he had additional concerns that the public markets may not tolerate the inevitable early losses involved with the new acquisition. Moreover, the company's principal financiers are venture capital investors and an IPO or sale will represent an investment exit for them and their goal is return maximization.

Private equity firm, Siris Capital Group must decide if they should raise their offer to take Titan Telecom private by acquiring its publicly-traded stock. Siris' decision to pay a premium for Titan must be made in the context of their unique (and somewhat complex) investment strategy that focuses on investment targets that have both mission-critical products or services that are approaching obsolescence but producing predictable cash flows, and also have new products or services on the horizon with strong growth potential. Further complicating the decision is the fact that Siris is in the midst of raising its second private equity fund and seeks to secure co-investment capital from many of the same investors they are pursuing as limited partners for their new fund.

Ever since he had heard her speak at a private equity conference, Babatunde Omotoba had wanted to work for Venita Fields, co-founder and senior managing director of private equity firm Smith Whiley & Company. He wrote and asked her for an informational interview, and was excited to receive her invitation to meet with her at the firm's regional office in Evanston, Illinois. After the interview, however, Omotoba came to the grim realization that despite all his preparations-researching private equity firms, studying the types of deals they make, and evaluating the analytical tools used to perform due diligence on companies and make investment decisions-he did not have a full grasp on the actual day-to-day work private equity professionals perform. He spent time reviewing materials from the career management office about private equity, and he meets two Kellogg alumni for informational interviews. He also reviews the investment process. The case ends with Omotoba having a broader perspective on the human aspect of private equity, beyond the analytical and financial aspects, as he anticipates meeting Fields again, hopefully to get the job offer.