Nicole Boyd Is Prept for the Occasion, But Will She Get the Funding?
Nicole Boyd was young and ambitious. Having worked for some of the top consulting firms in the industry, Nicole had a strong background in technology consulting and strategy. However, like many of today’s professional women, she found herself at crossroads. Nicole had started a new digital styling service, Prept, which was growing steadily and had a proven business model, but she had ambitions to quickly grow the business and needed private equity funding to accomplish her goals. As Nicole distributed her proposal to some venture capital firms, she found that obtaining such funding posed a significant challenge. Nicole wondered whether her human capital and proven business model were enough to obtain the funding she needed for Prept.
In analyzing this case, students should be able to:
1. Describe the value proposition and positioning of a company
2. Identify the different types of private equity funding and apply the concepts to an ecommerce start-up
3. Explain the gender gap a female entrepreneur faces in obtaining private equity financing for an e-commerce start-up
4. Analyze a company’s business model from the perspective of a private equity investor
5. Develop potential marketing and social media strategies for a company