In this thesis we focus on the issue of crowdfunding and especially how a project relates to and embraces its community. While a lot of related research focus on what makes people give, our research instead delve into whether a creator looks upon the sponsors as something more than just a financial resource. To manage this task we used a triangular perspective consisting of a case study, a questionnaire and a netnographic study. The goal was to gain the perspectives of creators, crowdfunding platforms and sponsors on how the communication between the community and the project works and can be improved.       The three crowdfunding platforms we reviewed (Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, Rockethub) all had fairly similar models on how to attract sponsors and make them involved in the project, while the questionnaire and netnographic study demonstrated how a community could contribute in different ways.

Abstract: Private equity used to be synonymous with tremendous yields and rates of return. However, the private equity market trembled in 2008, due to the financial meltdown caused by the worldwide credit crisis. Considering the current low number of exits within the private equity industry, the purpose of this thesis is to examine if there has been any change in how private equity firms control their portfolio companies since the inception of the crisis. One private equity company and two portfolio companies have been studied. The case study is prepared from interviews with senior directors in the portfolio company and investment managers in the private equity firm.

Uppsatsen behandlar de investeringskriterier och värderingsmetoder som svenska Private Equity-företag använder inför företagsförvärv. Vi har gjort en kvalitativ analys av fem svenska Private Equity-aktörer. Våra slutsater är att de Private Equity-bolag vi studerat har ett fåtal övergripande investeringskriterier men att de är relativt flexibla gällande resterande. Företagen använder sig främst av multipelvärdering i värderingsprocessen. Sammanfattningsvis kan vi konstatera att Private Equity-företagen fokuserar mindre på vad företaget är värt och lägger allt fokus på hur mycket företaget kan avyttras för..

För entreprenörer som arbetar med projekt i en "start up"- fas kan det vara svårt att lyckas med finansieringen. Detta beror på att det inte finns någon ekonomisk historik att visa upp för finansiärerna. För att lyckas få in tillräckligt med kapital för att kunna finansiera ett projekt kan man vända sig till olika typer av investerare. De vanligaste sättet är att man antingen vänder sig till banker, venture capital-bolag eller affärsänglar. Vad som motiverar dessa aktörer är olika, men det gemensamma för dessa aktörer är att det är svårt att få dem att investera i ett projekt.Under senare tid har det dock skapats ett nytt sätt för entreprenörer att få in kapital till sina projekt.

In this paper we investigate 67 Swedish buyouts in the manufacturing and retailing sector between the years 2004-2012. The purpose is to measure changes in a set of financial key ratios to see if private equity firms are able to improve performance in their portfolio companies compared to a peer group consisting of other firms within the same industries. Furthermore, we examine if there is a difference in the change of the financial key ratios between private equity-owned firms in the two sectors. The key results are that the private equity owned firms have not outperformed their peers with respect to the chosen key ratios. We also conclude that there is no significant difference in the change of the financial key ratios between private equity-owned firms in the two sectors..

Crowdfunding a?r en ny metod fo?r att finansiera fo?retag och projekt som under senare a?r bo?rjat fa? momentum. Genom att anva?nda kunskapen och kapitalet hos ?crowden? finansieras idag projekt som tidigare inte ansetts ha?llbara. Centralt inom alla finansieringsformer a?r fo?rtroendeskapandet mellan intressenterna, dock finns inga tidigare studier kring hur crowdfundingfo?retag skapar fo?rtroende till entrepreno?rer och finansia?rer.

Nya företag är viktigt för svensk ekonomi. De bidrar till bland annat sysselsättning, innovationer och välfärd. Sverige har idag ett lågt nyföretagande i jämförelse med andra EU-länder och en av orsakerna till detta är svårigheten för dessa företag att attrahera externt kapital. Det finansiella gapet illustrerar denna problematik genom en utbudssida (finansiärer) och en efterfrågesida (företag), där ett gap uppstår då utbudet understiger efterfrågan på kapital. Syftet med denna studie är att studera en alternativ finansieringsform som sker via internet, för att sedan undersöka hur denna finansieringsform kan påverka det finansiella gapet.

In this paper we have investigated which visual components that are of importance when designing a website with the purpose of influencing peoples attitudes in a positive direction regarding the specific phenomenas crowdfunding and microinvestments. To investigate how people respond to these concepts we made a survey. The survey showed us that the respondents were indecivise regarding risktaking and that personal interest was of great importance weather the respondents were to invest or not. Therefor we included visual components in the design with the purpose of expressing professional and trustworthy impressions and at the same time reach the user at an emotional level. In the following interviews that we made we tested if our visual components had the intended effects.

This study aims to build a deeper understanding on how shareholder value is created in Private Equity investments, especially during the holding period. The study is a qualitative study of the buyout of the access security company Bewator AB made by the Swedish Private Equity firm EQT in 2002. The buyout became highly successful due to various reasons. The study draws the conclusion, contrary to popular belief, that Private Equity firms create value through taking a long term view on business developing rather than being short term value destroyers. Incentive alignment is another important factor..

The concept of brand equity emerged inthe eightiesto justify the long term value of marketing investments. Brand equity signify the value that a brand adds to a product and is the result of the marketing of a brand. One of the most widely used strategies to enhance brand equity is to do a brand extension, which means that a firm uses an established brand to introduce a new product to the market. At worst, a failed brand extension can damage the brand equity, which Vinjamuri (2008) claims that the brand Axe is currently in danger of doing. This January Axe launched an extention including products for both men and women for the first time and Vinjamuri claims that this can disappoint Axe´s former target group (men between 14 and 27 years old) (Newman, 2012). In this thesis Axe´s brand equity among the extensions target group (men and women, age 14 to 27) in Sweden is studied to find out if the brand extension is likely to affect the brand equity in the target group.

This study investigates the value relevance of goodwill impairments for equity investors in Swedish listed companies. We provide insight on whether goodwill impairments are value relevant before as well as after the implementation of IFRS 3 and IAS 36. We express market value of equity as a function of book value of equity; net income excluding goodwill impairments and goodwill impairments, using the Ohlson valuation model and Hellström's price regression. Our findings suggest that goodwill impairments are statistically value relevant for equity investors. Prior to the implementation of IFRS 3 and IAS 36, our findings imply that equity investors respond negatively to goodwill impairments.

Crowdfunding is described as a facilitator for creative entrepreneurs in their gathering of funds for projects. This bachelor?s thesis  aims at finding differences in communication components found between successful and unsuccessful crowdfunding campaigns on one of the most popular platforms, Kickstarter. Through a quantitative content analysis and a rhetorical analysis of literary topoi this study suggests that there are apparent differences in usage of titles, text, visual expressions, rewards and in themes of preparation, humility as well as quality. The findings we present conclude that a campaign with a title consisting of eight words and one punctuation are more likely to succeed than other.

Previous research has discussed how voluntary disclosure relates to the cost of equity capital. Theories of estimation risk support a negative association between disclosure and cost of equity capital, as empirically documented by Botosan (1997) among others. In this Bachelor thesis we investigate whether such a relationship exists on the Swedish capital market. Using the CAPM to estimate the cost of equity capital and a disclosure index based on Aktiespararen?s annual evaluation of corporate disclosure, we test a model where disclosure explains cost of equity capital.

Crowdfunding som ett sätt att söka finansiering och marknadsföring för en idé eller en produkt har vuxit enormt de senaste åren. Det har dock visat sig att det inte är så lätt att lyckas med sin kampanj. På crowdfundingsajten Kickstarter ligger just nu antalet lyckosamma kampanjer på endast 39,5 %. Syftet med detta arbete har därför varit att undersöka vad som krävs i form av förutsättningar, planering och erfarenheter för att lyckas, liksom vad som får människor att vilja stödja en kampanj.Tidigare forskning inom området har studerats och intervjuer har genomförts med sex personer som har erfarenhet av att ha drivit lyckade kampanjer. Resultatet visade att en av de viktigaste aspekterna för att lyckas är att försöka förmedla trovärdighet och kvalité på sin kampanj och sin produkt.Därefter har data från avslutade lyckade kampanjer på crowdfundingsajten Kickstarter samlats in och bearbetats kvantitativt.

I den ha?r uppsatsen analyseras avkastningen pa? bo?rsintroduktioner genomfo?rda av Private Equity-firmor pa? den svenska marknaden under perioden 1993-2011. Studien underso?ker huruvida bo?rsintroduktioner genomfo?rda av Private Equity genererar en abnormal avkastning relativt bo?rsintroduktioner som genomfo?rts av icke Private Equity, sammanlagt 97 bo?rsintroduktioner. Ba?da urvalsgrupperna relateras gentemot ja?mfo?relseindex i form av kontrollfirmor pa? kort och la?ng sikt.