How the VC Pitch Process Is Failing Female Entrepreneurs

In 2018, only 3% of venture capital in the U.S went to companies with a female CEO. Yet, the number of female-owned businesses has risen both in the U.S. and around the world, and the number of women intending to become entrepreneurs globally has increased even more sharply. Women who venture into entrepreneurship are

Take a step back in time to observe how Georges Doriot – the founder of both VC and INSEAD – set up a machine to fuel and fund innovation and development. “…I want money to do things that have never been done before,” proclaimed Georges Doriot, almost 75 years ago.

Board members and senior managers can learn from the “structured crisis management” techniques PE firms are employing with their portfolio companies. COVID-19 has accelerated many long-brewing developments in the business world, such as the ascent into respectability of working from home. Private equity (PE) has not been immune to this

Alexandra von Stauffenberg, Associate Director, INSEAD Global Private Equity Initiative, and Claudia Zeisberger, INSEAD Senior Affiliate Professor of Decision Sciences and Entrepreneurship & Family Enterprise | February 5, 2020 Where do Europe’s family firms stand globally, in terms of creating sustainable, long-term value? Most family business founders aspire to build

This report would have not been possible without the engagement of the 131 families who participated in our survey and the many more that we interviewed. Equally valuable was the expertise of all the private equity professionals who shared their experiences of investing in Latin America and helped frame our research questions.

This report would have not been possible without the engagement of the 121 families who participated in our survey and the many more that we interviewed. Equally valuable was the expertise of all the private equity professionals who shared their experiences of investing in Europe and helped frame our research questions.

The tumultuous events of the last two decades have affected European family offices differently, in accordance with the continent’s diversity. Over the last 20 years, the family office (FO) concept has spread from the United States through Europe to Asia. In the process, FOs have been subject to the influence of local

Southeast Asia (SEA) has a young and vibrant technology startup ecosystem. An ecosystem that is maturing at a rapid pace with capital increasingly allocated to up and coming tech startups.

This report was written by Alexandra Albers-Schoenberg, Research Associate at the INSEAD Global Private Equity Initiative (GPEI), with input from Ian Potter, Distinguished Fellow at GPEI, and under the guidance of Claudia Zeisberger, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise at INSEAD. China’s venture capital (VC) sector has moved into the fast lane.

If including women in senior private equity and venture capital leadership teams improves returns, why is the gender gap still so pervasive? Private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) together have an increasingly important role in the economic development of emerging markets providing alternative funding opportunities for entrepreneurship development, start-ups

Although Silicon Valley has been a dominant force in the technology innovation and venture capital (VC) space, China is quickly catching up and its exponential growth is presenting investment opportunities. Nevertheless, it may be difficult for foreign investors to access this sector directly, say academics at INSEAD. According to Claudia

The private equity (PE) model is well established. PE investors analyse hundreds of companies and opportunities in detail before buying a minority or majority stake in a good company, which they manage over a few years with the goal of achieving a profitable exit. Rarely do PE funds deal with write-offs, and PE-owned companies in distress are known to do

Private equity is seeing unprecedented capital inflows from institutional investors, amid sustained low-interest rates, return compression across traditional asset classes and concerns that the longest-running bull market in post-war history may soon end. A new product has attracted a meaningful slice of those allocations – private equity funds with a lifespan of 15-20 years.

Many investment firms go beyond leveraged buyouts to build sector-specific investment ecosystems. When PE giant KKR created Emerald Media, a $300 million equity-based platform, in late 2015, its investment model exemplified a stark contrast to the traditional PE investment strategy of a standalone buyout, re-structure and exit. A “platform” consists

This independent study project was authored by Kyle Lee and Konstantin Synetos (INSEAD MBA Candidates, Class of July 2018) under the supervision of Claudia Zeisberger, Senior Affiliate Professor of Decision Sciences and Entrepreneurship & Family Enterprise at INSEAD and Academic Director of its Global Private Equity Initiative (GPEI).

Claudia Zeisberger, a professor focused on private equity at French business school INSEAD, discusses her work and how a new generation entering private equity might change the industry. Last year you published Mastering Private Equity: Transformation via Venture Capital, Minority Investments and Buyouts. Who is the book for and why was

A discussion with Kevin Lu, Chairman for Asia at Partners Group and Distinguished Fellow at INSEAD’s GPEI. In 2010, INSEAD’s Global Private Equity Initiative (GPEI) started to explore the nascent trend of responsible investing. In 2014, it published its first report on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors within the private equity

The right private equity partner can play a significant role in this process by opening doors, improving processes and facilitating a smooth generational handover. Family firms account for 70% of GDP globally and 60% of global employment and are key drivers of economic growth and business innovation.

Claudia Zeisberger, an award-winning professor at world-renowned business school INSEAD, initiated the launch of the school’s Global Private Equity Initiative in 2008. Now, the Senior Affiliate Professor of Decision Sciences and Entrepreneurship—who teaches in the school’s MBA and EMBA programs as well as in multiple executive education programs—has released a

As family offices grow in Asia, issues such as institutionalization and succession planning are becoming more important in the region, according to recent findings from INSEAD.

The model and workings of the Private Equity (PE) has evolved over the years. The image of vultures seeking to prey on underperforming companies with steady cash flows in heavily leveraged transactions and riding the investment out to a successful exit has developed to one of highly proficient transformation agents seeking to impact businesses at critical junctures of their development.

Some 41 years ago, George Roberts, Jerry Kohlberg and Henry Kravis pulled together US$120,000 to form their first private equity (PE) fund. There were no such funds in those days and nobody else appeared to be doing what was then called leveraged buyouts. Little did they know that they were starting an industry.

GOOD investment opportunities are extremely sought after and privately-owned businesses make increasingly attractive targets. For family businesses in South-east Asia, the option of “cashing out” or (partially) selling the business has become an intriguing option worthwhile exploring.

The question seems simple: How Can Family Firms Ensure Long-Term Value Creation? But as a new report – based on interviews 123 Asia-based family firms and 14 private equity professionals – shows, the answer may be more complicated. The report is titled “The Institutionalization of Family Firms,” and it covers a

If a California venture capitalist were to take a New Yorker’s view of Asia, it might look something like this – Japan in the foreground, China looming at the top, India rising in the far distance and then the “flyover” states of Asean dotting the middle ground.

Private Equity is a fringe asset class no more; it has evolved, matured and refined its way into the mainstream. Yet, I foresee major changes for the industry and, fully aware that forward-looking statements have a tendency to dramatically stray from future reality, wish to dare a glimpse of what may come.

Private Equity in Action takes you on a tour of the PE investment world through a series of case studies written by INSEAD faculty and taught at the world’s leading business schools. This is an excerpt from a case study on PE investments in Asia.   On a balmy evening