The course uses a two-pronged approach to the study of entrepreneurial finance.  First, we will analyze principles of corporate finance, valuation, and coordination and control of firms, with an eye toward developing the tools and concepts of entrepreneurial financial management.  Second, we will use cases on firms at different stages of their life cycle to illustrate how these tools and concepts may be applied in practice.  In following these two approaches, we will examine the case dynamics and decisions from the viewpoint of both the entrepreneur and that of the investors to understand their motivations, objectives, and considerations.  Entrepreneurial Finance and Private Equity investing are intrinsically linked.  As an entrepreneur, you cannot negotiate effectively without understanding the investor’s modifications.  As an investor, you cannot evaluate a potential opportunity without appreciating the entrepreneur’s perspective

 In principle, we can think of a “life cycle” of entrepreneurial financial decisions comprised of stages of identifying opportunity, marshaling resources, executing the business decisions, and “harvesting” success.  In practice, entrepreneurial finance is not a linear process though this life cycle, and most of the cases we examine will necessarily involve considering multiple stages of the life cycle.  As a further dimension, both economists and private equity practitioners describe the need to think simultaneously about four “success factors”: people, opportunity, context, and the deal.  Our case analyses will follow this general framework.

Tania Babina

Assistant Professor of Business

Professor Tania Babina joined the Columbia Business School in 2016. She received a Ph.D. from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina. Her research is at the juncture of corporate finance, labor economics, and entrepreneurship. More broadly, she studies inter-relationship between human capital and firm investment, financing, and organizational choices. Her current research explores drivers of entrepreneurship and factors predicting entrepreneurial...

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