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The CEO of a publicly traded Indian auto components manufacturer must decide whether to accept an investment from a consortium of private equity firms. Describes the decision process for both the private equity investors and the entrepreneur and profiles the opportunities and risks in investing in India.

Managers at Atheros, a leading provider of wireless local area network chipsets, must decide whether to join a special interest group (SIG) proposed by Intel to end an impasse over standards for the 802.11n (11n), the next generation of "Wi-Fi" technology. Two factions are supporting rival proposals for 11n standards in the IEEE, the electronics industry's chief standards-setting organization. Working outside the IEEE's formal processes, Intel's SIG would advance a compromise that could break the deadlock. Alternatively, the SIG could provoke a backlash, resulting in the IEEE's approval of a different standard for 11n. In that event, Intel and its SIG allies would suffer a severe time-to-market setback in exploiting what promises to be a large, fast-growing chip market.

After more than 40 years of focus on a single related technology platform, XYZ Corp. had begun trying to foster an entrepreneurial climate within the organization. Its goal? To develop vibrant new ventures through a program called "Growing Green Businesses." As XYZ's main product lines were becoming commoditized and several billion dollars in free cash flow became available, the timing seemed right for this new initiative. Yet efforts thus far have failed to create a robust portfolio of new businesses. How can management transform a highly successful, but large and somewhat reluctant Fortune 500 into a truly entrepreneurial firm?

Introduces the venture leasing or lending industry by looking at pioneering in the industry: Western Technology investment. Asks students to walk in the shoes of a venture lender by outlining a term sheet of a "live" investment decision that Western Technology needs to make about Quinstreet, an emerging Internet start-up.

The founder and owner of Jill's Table, a specialty food and housewares store is thinking about the challenges ahead of her. As a small business operating in the same arena as the mass merchandising chains, she has to decide how to position her service offerings so as to survive and even thrive in a highly competitive environment. As a Retailer of the Year award winner (2004 Canadian Gift and Tableware Association, Housewares and Gourmet Division), she knows that her challenges go beyond competition and touch on areas such as customer service, associate training, buying and finance.

The technical director of Laboratorio de Analisis Argentina is responsible for ensuring that an average of 5,000 samples are processed daily. The samples have three sources: samples collected on-premises, samples sent from the organization's other 40 labs and samples sent from external labs. In one week the technical director has to give her boss a recommendation about dealing with the lab's capacity problems.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the artists who created The Gates in New York City in 2005, are trying to decide how best to finance their next project. Over the River, a project to drape sections of the Arkansas River with translucent fabric is a very different enterprise from The Gates. Bank Leu, the Swiss back that had provided a line of credit for The Gates, has declined the opportunity to participate in Over the River. As Christo and Jeanne-Claude review the Bank Leu vehicle, they must consider whether it is replicable to other projects and institutions or whether they should consider a different approach.

The partners of Adams Capital Management must decide whether to start their fourth fund in early 2006 or to hold off until they have realized more exits from the earlier funds and have proved the viability of a recent change in strategy.

Endo Pharmaceuticals was formed in 1997 as a leveraged buyout spin-off from DuPont Merck. In 1999, it must decide whether to do an IPO or merge with a smaller company.

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Ryan and David Kratz have formed a new company, under very favorable terms, with a fiberglass boat builder. But at the signing of the agreement for the new company's information, the builder's spouse suggests that the Kratz's share of ownership be reduced from 67% to 50%, substantially changing the ownership dynamics.

Supplements the (A) case.

First conceived as a business plan in Stanford Business School's "Evaluating Entrepreneurial Opportunities" class, the Golden Baseball League is an independent baseball league in California and Arizona. Tracks the development of the business from idea to launch of the first season of play.

Describes the situation facing Paul Bentington, the president, CEO, and member of the owning family of BIND, PLC, a large and successful family-owned engineering consulting firm in London. Bentington's sister and brother, both of whom are owners of the firm, confront him regarding family participation both in the governance and management of the firm. Third- and fourth-generation members of the family represent a diversity of backgrounds and experiences, which Bentington's siblings believe would benefit the firm. Yet Bentington has misgivings about whether it is appropriate for his siblings, their spouses, and their children to serve in any leadership role at the family company.

This case follows a classic student venture from on-campus conception in 1994, to harvest during the late 90s Internet wave, to its rebirth as a virtual business model. The enterprise began as a paper-based debit card that enabled Dartmouth College students to purchase merchandise at participating local pizza shops, copy centers, coffeehouses and the like. By the time founder Taren Lent and his partner took their system online in 1996, the 'Green Card' had a broad campus following, significant vendor participation, and average monthly revenue of $160,000. The entrepreneurs funded their expansion with informal investments from family, friends, angels, and a bank loan. In 1999-near the peak of the Internet bubble-they were scooped up by Student Advantage, a 'high-concept' venture-backed dot-com that was spending millions to build online market share in the higher-education space. Taren, who was heading up the campus card division, was astounded at how little attention was being paid to pursuing viable revenue models. When Student Advantage ultimately (and somewhat predictably), ran out of money and was liquidated, the campus card segment was sold to Blackboard. Taren Lent, however, had other ideas. He and a new partner left to start a virtual card venture focused on the higher education market. That focus would soon be put to the test by compelling opportunities that are doable, but not within their narrow strategic focus; e.g. business campuses, theme parks, and government agencies like NASA.

Heavenly Reception Limited is a local dealer for a national satellite television distributor. Recent growth has been very strong, but the company has to increase its financial leverage to deal with expansion. The high degree of financial risk is a concern to the company's controller as she prepares the budget for the coming fiscal year.