Entrepreneurship

Seth Goldman ’95, the co-founder of Honest Tea and chair of Beyond Meat, was opening PLNT Burger, a new chain of plant-based restaurants, as the global pandemic struck.

A study by Yale SOM researchers suggests that when venture capital funding in a metropolitan area increases, industries with customers outside the region suffer and income inequality widens.

For startups and family businesses, establishing a professionalized, independent board and other aspects of corporate governance tend to be far down the priority list. Two experts explain why investing in corporate governance is critical to long-term success.

Most investing success is short lived, but venture capital is an exception, with top VCs beating the average year after year. A new study finds that consistent returns owe as much to a firm’s reputation and early luck as the smarts of its employees.

A study by Yale SOM’s Song Ma shows that companies tend to invest in startups when they are struggling, in order to gain access to innovation and shore up an area of weakness.

According to Prof. Henrietta Onwuegbuzie of Lagos Business School, entrepreneurs focused on solving problems and ongoing innovation grow their businesses faster, make more money—and have a bigger impact than any government or nonprofit.

The 32 Ohio counties spread over the Appalachian foothills suffer in comparison with their counterparts in the rest of the state by nearly every economic measure. But they’re also filled with entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and citizens seeking to build a brighter future.

Yale Insights commissioned photographer Erin Clark to document the people working to transform southeast Ohio. She talks about the experience.

What can a town of 1,481 people in Appalachian coal country do in the face of long-term cyclical changes in global markets? Quite a lot, actually.