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The president of a new hotel venture faces a financing decision. The choices include: mortgage debt, common stock, or preferred and common stock. The president has to balance the impact of the financing alternatives on the viability of the venture, her investment returns, the investment returns of prospective outside investors and the financial and business risks.

How should WellSpace, a venture capital-backed purveyor of alternative health services, expand? Although it was nearing breakeven in its first location, the right business model remained unclear.

A student at a large Boston-area university would soon be completing a dual degree in Management Information Systems and Business Administration. She is the oldest child and only member of a Japanese family that spoke English and was learning to represent the family business, Kashiwa Tubing, with its international accounts. It was planned that she would eventually assume leadership of the company. During her studies she became a believer in the potential and reach of the Internet. She immediately set up a Web site for the company. Within six months, the Web site generated its first major sale, a $2.5 million order from Saudi Arabia. Recently, she had begun to negotiate a multi-million dollar deal with a Taiwanese firm. The company's Japanese headquarters recently forwarded an inquiry from Nigeria. The inquiry was from a member of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, proposed a business transaction that would, if successful, represent the largest single Internet order in the history of Kashiwa Tubing. Believing in personally meeting with customers and building long lasting ties, her father suggests that she should meet with this customer, even if that meant traveling to Nigeria.

In June of 1999, Steward Dodd, Noah Freedman, and Richard Davidson established Brainspark, a British business incubator designed to support and grow fledgling new businesses. The Brainspark business model was built on a blend of investing, mentoring, and teamwork, and the creation of an environment that would facilitate and enable knowledge and information sharing among companies. By the first half of 2001, however, Brainspark had suffered a serious downturn in its market value and its cash reserves were dwindling. The case focuses on the debate among Brainspark's management team about the appropriate business model and/or exit strategy for Brainspark.

Since the 1960s, corporate venture capital has had a mixed history. Companies seem to form separate venture capital programs during boom years and then withdraw their commitments during economic downturns. This case opens with a fictional situation: Ron Flores, the vicepresident of corporate development at AllTech, the world's largest enterprise software company, is trying to evaluate whether the company should establish a separate corporate venture-capital group to spearhead investments in young companies. Flores has two days to put together a recommendation for the company's CFO. To make his decision, Flores reviews several documents, which make up the bulk of the case, including an overview and brief history of corporate venture capital and an overview of the venture investing activities at Intel Corp., Microsoft Corp., and Xerox Corp.

Businesses spend billions on health insurance. And what do they get for their money? A lot of unhappy employees. Workers fret about the quality of the care they receive, the burden of their out-of-pocket expenses, and the gaps in their coverage. For businesses, health care has become a lose-lose proposition: They pay way too much, and they get way too little. The problem is that the health care industry has been shielded from consumer pressure--by employers, insurers, and the government. As a result, costs have exploded even as choices have narrowed. But if companies embrace a new model of health coverage--one that places control over both costs and care directly into the hands of employees--the competitive forces that spur productivity and innovation in consumer markets can be loosed upon the inefficient, tradition-bound health care system. Moving to consumer-driven health care requires that companies revamp their health benefits in six ways: Give employees incentives to shop intelligently; offer a real choice of insurance plans; charge employees prices that accurately reflect the company's costs; let providers set their own prices; adjust payments for each enrollee based on need; and provide relevant information.

The Entropia management team and a Harvard Business School field study team look for applications for "grid computing" in the financial services industry, identifying a "go-to-market" plan for this new technology.

Supplements the (A) case.

Innomedia Logic Inc. produces and distributes voice over Internet protocol hardware. An increasing demand for this technology and the entry of other companies into the sector have created a highly competitive market. Despite these challenges, Innomedia Logic has grown to a successful operation in just a few years and has projected substantial revenue increases for the next two years. The president, and major shareholder, has received an unsolicited offer for 100 per cent of the company's equity. He must consider how an exit strategy will affect the other seven shareholders and determine whether he would receive greater value if he sells now or if he should continue to grow the company and contemplate a sale in the future.

Students play the role of Steve Papa, the CEO and founder of a venture-backed enterprise software company. In the challenging financing climate of the fall of 2001, he knows that two different groups are about to submit term sheets for his company's C-round. He is trying to decide what he should aim for in the ensuing negotiation. Presents the background of the company and the lengthy battle Steve fought just to get a term sheet. He has two months of cash left and a number of issues to consider, including a founding investor's request to change the terms of a previous round.

Students play the role of Hardy Smith, one of the founding investors of a venture-backed enterprise software company. In the challenging financing climate of the fall of 2001, he is trying to decide what terms to offer the company as an insider-funded C-round. Presents the background of the company and the lengthy struggle that Hardy and the CEO endured just to get a term sheet.

Students play the role of Charlie Yie, a venture capitalist considering an investment in a venture-backed enterprise software company. In the challenging financing climate of the Fall of 2001, he is trying to decide what terms to offer the company as an outside investor leading its C-round. Presents the background of the company and the lengthy struggle that existing investors and the CEO endured just to get a term sheet.

Terralumen is a family-owned agricultural company that has expanded into consumer products. A senior executive with the company has helped build a successful joint venture over a period of 16 years with Delta, an American fast food chain. After a directors meeting, he senses that the American joint venture partners want to end the partnership, but he is unsure why. The joint venture has been profitable, and he also believes his company contributed the most to its success and that prior to the joint venture Delta had limited success in foreign markets. With the break up of the joint venture pending, he must determine how to extract the largest return on Terralumen's investment.

After opening the first Gordon Biersch brewery restaurant in July 1988 in Palo Alto, California, Dan Gordon and Dean Biersch successfully built Gordon Biersch into a $20 million company, with restaurants in five locations and a small retail beer business. By early 1995, they aimed to open 20 new restaurants throughout the United States by 1999 and to expand the brewing side of the business. To do so, they needed to grow at a much faster pace, which required additional funding and management expertise. Therefore, in November 1995, they accepted an investment of $11.2 million from the Fertitta family. In exchange, Dan and Dean gave the Fertittas majority control of the company. This case provides students with an update of what happened at the Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. after receiving funding from the Fertitta family in 1995 and up to 2002.

Just a few years ago, becoming an entrepreneur was pretty simple. All you needed was some idea--any idea--a little experience, and venture capital funds to get you going. Many young people started to believe that entrepreneurship was a viable, even safe, career choice. Older folks, too, underestimated the risks of financing start-ups, and, as a result, they ended up throwing millions of dollars into doomed ventures. The economic downturn has laid waste to those illusions. So now is a good time to ask potential entrepreneurs and their financial backers the hard questions unheeded in the days of the Internet boom: What makes an entrepreneur? What characteristics set successful entrepreneurs apart, enabling them to keep their companies alive even when the going gets tough? This article addresses those questions, reminding us that becoming a successful entrepreneur is decidedly not a squeaky-clean affair; you may end up making powerful enemies, risking your own financial security, or even, in extreme cases, looking at jail time. Specifically, the article explores the key qualities that make someone a successful entrepreneur. Walter Kuemmerle has distilled these characteristics into a kind of litmus test of the following five straight-forward, albeit disquieting, questions you should ask yourself if you are considering starting your own venture: Are you comfortable stretching the rules? Are you prepared to make powerful enemies? Do you have the patience to start small? Are you willing to shift strategies quickly? Are you a closer? Answering these questions honestly will help you decide whether you have what it takes to become an entrepreneur.

A university student has taken a summer job as the manager of a house painting franchise. He is determined to offer customers quality work and to hire painters who can work long hours to help him achieve his high production goals. Six employees were hired and trained by the end of May. By mid-June, however, he is faced with a crisis situation: three of the employees have resigned and another has had a job-related accident. The manager must deal with the injured employee and the owner of the home where the accident occurred. He also needs to hire new employees and to consider whether his management played a role in the number of resignations.

Wil Cardon is the third-generation steward of his family's real estate land development business. He grapples with issues of business structure, intergenerational business, compensation, and family values. This case includes in-depth discussion of the land development business in the Southwest.

On July 30, 1981, Frank Batten, the chairman of Landmark Communications, proclaimed that in less than a year, his company would launch a new concept in cable television: the nation's first all-weather programming, the Weather Channel. He didn't anticipate the sneers and derision that would greet his announcement. Fast forward 20 years. Today, the Weather Channel ranks as one of the most powerful and trusted media brands in the world. Millions of people tune in daily for local and national weather information, and its web site logs more than 3 billion page views per year. The Weather Channel proved its skeptics wrong by challenging some popular misconceptions about corporate entrepreneurship. One such misconception is that great entrepreneurship always springs from a great idea. Yes, ideas are crucial, but so are pools of managerial and technical expertise, patient capital, and a reputation for honesty and straight shooting. Another misconception is that two guys in a garage will always beat out a corporate behemoth. Not so. In fact, the right kinds of corporate support can be a great idea's best friend. Batten faced many setbacks in the course of turning the Weather Channel into a reality. Technological and financial issues threatened to sink the channel before it transmitted its first forecast. But inspired engineering and a last-minute rescue from cable operators gave the enterprise a chance to build a following. Corporate support can't smooth out the inevitable rough spots of entrepreneurship, as the author points out. But a parent company with the right attitude and the right resources--capital, management talent, and experience in related fields--can spell the difference between a bright idea and a powerful business.

William Drayton founded Ashoka in 1980 to use a venture capital model to support social entrepreneurs, namely, practical visionaries who are committed to social change. The primary objective of Ashoka is to identify social entrepreneurs around the globe, who then receive Ashoka Fellowships that provide both financial and professional support. To be chosen, each prospective fellow goes through a rigorous search and selection process. Fellows receive a living stipend (typically for 3 years) and they join the Global Fellowship--a worldwide network of social entrepreneurs. Since 1982, over 1,100 Ashoka Fellows have been selected in 41 countries. Ashoka Fellows work in 6 areas: learning/education, environment, health, human rights, civic participation, and economic development.

Textron Ltd. is a family-owned manufacturer of cotton and sponge fabricated items. The company wants to expand its business with an offshore manufacturing enterprise that will fit with the company's policy of caring for their employees and providing quality products. The company is looking at two options: a guaranteed outsourcing purchase agreement or a joint venture. After several meetings with offshore alliance candidates the vice-president of the company must analyse the cross-cultural differences to established corporate guidelines of global ethics and social responsibility that the company can use in their negotiations with a foreign manufacturing firm.