by Alex Edmans | 22 Apr 2024 | A fact is not data
A widely quoted statistic is that only 2% of VC funding goes to female founders. For example, this Forbes article highlights that “only 2% of all VC funding goes to women-led startups” and asks “Why is only 2% of VC funding going to female...
by Alex Edmans | 7 Apr 2024 | A statement is not fact, Data is not evidence
Two leading asset management firms drew my attention to the McKinsey Organizational Health Index as a potential tool to evaluate a company. A book, “Beyond Performance 2.0: A Proven Approach to Leading Large-Scale Change”, written by two McKinsey partners,...
by Alex Edmans | 23 Mar 2024 | A fact is not data, A statement is not fact, Data is not evidence
I was struck by the Harvard Business Review headline “Companies that Practice ‘Conscious Capitalism’ Perform 10x Better”. On the one hand, it appealed to my confirmation bias. Conscious capitalism involves serving stakeholders, not just...
by Alex Edmans | 12 Mar 2024 | A statement is not fact, Data is not evidence, Diversity
In 2015, 2018, and 2020, McKinsey released a trio of papers claiming that diversity has a positive causal impact on firm performance, titled “Diversity Matters”, “Delivering Through Diversity”, and “Diversity Wins”. These studies...
by Alex Edmans | 7 Feb 2024 | Data is not evidence
One of the papers that I cited most prominently in Grow the Pie is “Corporate Sustainability: First Evidence on Materiality”. It shows that ESG doesn’t always pays off: firms with high ESG scores don’t beat the market; only those that focus...
