John Mullins

Desde una posición rocosa con vistas a las brillantes luces de San Francisco, Christian Harbinson contempló la bahía y las colinas sobre Sausalito. «No hay nada como una caminata vigorosa», pensó, «para despejar la mente antes de una reunión crucial». Era una suave tarde de marzo y el capitalista de riesgo de 35 años estaba reflexionando sobre la recomendación que tendría que hacer al comité de inversiones de su empresa a la mañana siguiente sobre la joven empresa de Jack Brandon, Seven Peaks Technologies.

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Reprint: R0703A
Christian Harbinson, a young associate at the venture capital firm Scharfstein Weekes, has a difficult decision to make before the next investment committee meeting. He&#8217;s been watching over SW&#8217;s investment in Seven Peaks Technologies, and sales of its single product have been disappointing. Now the company&#8217;s head, Jack Brandon, wants another $400,000 to pursue a new product.
Harbinson believes in Brandon and in his proprietary technology&#8212;a titanium alloy that prevents surgical instruments from sticking to tissue. Three years ago, Brandon quit his job and put $65,000 of his savings into developing a nonstick cauterizing device. Two distributors offered to carry it after they saw his demonstration at a trade show, and a couple of surgeons, quickly becoming enthusiastic, promised testimonials.
But if Brandon&#8217;s cauterizer is to take off, surgeons will have to abandon the forceps they&#8217;ve traditionally used and switch to the Seven Peaks device&#8212;a change in behavior that will come slowly if at all. So, Brandon thinks, why not adapt his alloy to a line of forceps?
Now Harbinson wonders if he himself has become emotionally overinvested in Seven Peaks and if this decision is as much a test of his VC potential as of the actual deal. Should Scharfstein Weekes back Brandon&#8217;s company with a second round of funding, or would it be a case of throwing good money after bad?
Commenting on this fictional case study are Ivan Farneti, a partner with Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures; Fred Hassan, the chairman and CEO of Schering-Plough; Robert M. Johnson, a venture partner with Delta Partners and a visiting professor at the University of Navarro&#8217;s IESE Business School; and Christoph Zott, an associate professor of entrepreneurship at Insead.

Good Money After Bad?

Reimpresión: R0703A Christian Harbinson, un joven asociado de la firma de capital riesgo Scharfstein Weekes, tiene que tomar una decisión difícil antes de la próxima reunión del comité de inversiones. Ha estado vigilando la inversión de SW en Seven Peaks Technologies y las ventas de su único producto han sido decepcionantes. Ahora el director de la empresa, Jack Brandon, quiere otros 400 000 dólares para dedicarse a un nuevo producto. Harbinson cree en Brandon y en su tecnología patentada: una aleación de titanio que evita que los instrumentos quirúrgicos se peguen al tejido. Hace tres años, Brandon dejó su trabajo e invirtió 65 000 dólares de sus ahorros en el desarrollo de un dispositivo de cauterización antiadherente. Dos distribuidores se ofrecieron a llevarlo después de ver su demostración en una feria comercial, y un par de cirujanos, que se entusiasmaron rápidamente, prometieron dar testimonios. Pero si el cauterizador de Brandon va a despegar, los cirujanos tendrán que abandonar las pinzas que utilizaban tradicionalmente y cambiar al dispositivo Seven Peaks, un cambio de comportamiento que se producirá poco a poco, si es que lo hace. Entonces, piensa Brandon, ¿por qué no adapta su aleación a una línea de fórceps? Ahora Harbinson se pregunta si él mismo se ha sobreinvertido emocionalmente en Seven Peaks y si esta decisión pone a prueba tanto su potencial de capital riesgo como el negocio real. ¿Debería Scharfstein Weekes apoyar a la empresa de Brandon con una segunda ronda de financiación, o se trataría de gastar dinero bueno tras malo? Ivan Farneti, socio de Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures; Fred Hassan, presidente y director ejecutivo de Schering-Plough; Robert M. Johnson, socio de riesgo de Delta Partners y profesor visitante en la Escuela de Negocios del IESE de la Universidad de Navarro; y Christoph Zott, profesor asociado de emprendimiento en Insead.

&iquest;Dinero bueno tras malo?

Reprint: R0703A Christian Harbinson, a young associate at the venture capital firm Scharfstein Weekes, has a difficult decision to make before the next investment committee meeting. He’s been watching over SW’s investment in Seven Peaks Technologies, and sales of its single product have been disappointing. Now the company’s head, Jack Brandon, wants another $400,000 to pursue a new product. Harbinson believes in Brandon and in his proprietary technology—a titanium alloy that prevents surgical instruments from sticking to tissue. Three years ago, Brandon quit his job and put $65,000 of his savings into developing a nonstick cauterizing device. Two distributors offered to carry it after they saw his demonstration at a trade show, and a couple of surgeons, quickly becoming enthusiastic, promised testimonials. But if Brandon’s cauterizer is to take off, surgeons will have to abandon the forceps they’ve traditionally used and switch to the Seven Peaks device—a change in behavior that will come slowly if at all. So, Brandon thinks, why not adapt his alloy to a line of forceps? Now Harbinson wonders if he himself has become emotionally overinvested in Seven Peaks and if this decision is as much a test of his VC potential as of the actual deal. Should Scharfstein Weekes back Brandon’s company with a second round of funding, or would it be a case of throwing good money after bad? Commenting on this fictional case study are Ivan Farneti, a partner with Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures; Fred Hassan, the chairman and CEO of Schering-Plough; Robert M. Johnson, a venture partner with Delta Partners and a visiting professor at the University of Navarro’s IESE Business School; and Christoph Zott, an associate professor of entrepreneurship at Insead.

¿Dinero bueno tras malo?

Resumen.

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