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Josh Lerner

Managing Partner

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Josh Lerner graduated from Yale College with a special divisional major.  He worked for several years on issues concerning technological innovation and public policy at the Brookings Institution, for a public-private task force in Chicago, and on Capitol Hill. He then earned a Ph.D. from Harvard’s Economics Department.

His research on venture capital and private equity is collected in three books, The Venture Capital Cycle, The Money of Invention, and Boulevard of Broken Dreams. He also examines policies on innovation and how they impact firm strategies.  He co-directs the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Productivity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Program and serves as co-editor of their publication. He founded and runs the Private Capital Research Institute, a nonprofit devoted to encouraging access to data and research, and has been a frequent leader of and participant in the World Economic Forum projects and events.

In the 1993-1994 academic year, Dr. Lerner introduced an elective course for second-year MBAs.  Over the past two decades, “Venture Capital and Private Equity” has consistently been one of the largest elective courses at Harvard Business School.  (The course materials are collected in Venture Capital and Private Equity: A Casebook, now in its fifth edition, and the textbook Venture Capital, Private Equity, and the Financing of Entrepreneurship.)  He also established and teaches doctoral courses on entrepreneurship, teaches in the Owners-Presidents-Managers Program, and leads executive courses on private equity. He is the Jacob H. Schiff Professor in Harvard Business School’s Entrepreneurial Management unit.

Among other recognitions, he is the winner of the Swedish government’s Global Entrepreneurship Research Award and Cheng Siwei Award for Venture Capital Research.

Full Team

Past Work

See our Expertise in Action

In partnership with the Knight Foundation, we produced a series of groundbreaking reports that quantified the representation and performance of diverse managers in the U.S. asset management industry. Cited in countless media reports and other academic articles, this body of work provided the first ever comprehensive benchmark for diversity in the U.S. asset management industry. Read more here.
Knight Foundation Representation Study
Since 2020, we have worked with the Association of Asian American Investment Managers on a series of research initiatives aimed at quantifying the representation and performance of AAPI managers in the U.S. asset management industry. The reports’ findings have been published in numerous outlets, and the most recent can be found here.
AAAIM Manager Performance Studies
We closely mapped the evolution of VC investment activity in low-earth orbit, with a special focus on interactions involving the International Space Station. Based on extensive research and interviews, the final report described historical activity and recent changes, noting the activity of privately funded work in nano- and micro-satellites, non-government launch vehicles, and launch concierge services. The final report is included in a NASA publication.
NASA-Published Economic Development Report
We worked with Victoria, Australia’s startup agency, LaunchVic, to structure a public-private investment fund to encourage the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Based on extensive on-the-ground and secondary research, our recommendations balanced the program's need for financial sustainability with the goal of activating significant risk capital for early-stage ventures. Read more here.
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Development
We worked with a government agency tasked with improving the innovation ecosystem within the nation by improving the pipeline of entrepreneurial businesses and attracting both domestic and foreign capital to fund these initiatives. Backed by academic insights and custom research, we prepared a detailed series of policy recommendations for structuring various public/private initiatives to catalyze innovation and mobilize private capital.
National Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Capital Mobilization
We have worked with a number of entrepreneurs to assist in valuing their businesses using a mix of market- and cash flow-based methods; considering financing options from different types of capital providers; providing guidance throughout the deal structuring process; and supporting entrepreneurs as they grow their businesses against the backdrop of increasingly complex private capital markets.
Business Valuation for Entrepreneurs
We worked with a government-funded financial education authority to develop and host a multi-day, in-person educational conference for senior policymakers and investors active in private markets. Topics included an overview of the current private capital landscape, best practices in manager and deal evaluation, exit routes and liquidity mechanisms, and the potential impacts of recent innovations in private markets.
Multi-Day Private Markets Conference
We evaluated the performance of a development finance institution's investments in pre-frontier market VC funds and offered specific recommendations on how to enhance the program moving forward. We conducted over 80 interviews of fund managers, portfolio company managers, government officials, bankers, and other subject matter experts to supplement the sparse data and provide a detailed snapshot of the impact of each fund.
DFI Investment Performance
Conducted an in-depth strategic review, performance assessment, and attribution analysis of a leading European private equity investor and wrote a Harvard Business School case study on the group.
Strategic Investor Review
Evaluated market demand against a top PE group’s core competencies to identify new investment product opportunities that leveraged the group’s strengths in long-term value creation and infrastructure-like investing.
Market Evaluation – New PE Product
We assessed the portfolio company-level impact of ownership by a large U.S. PE firm by quantifying changes in employment, wages, workplace safety, and innovation using custom-built measurement frameworks informed by academic best practices. The results of these analyses were presented by the firm to investors in several of its annual group meetings.
PE Impact Assessment
We customized a version of our historical simulation software for use by a leading U.S.-based funds-of-funds group. The custom deployment took advantage of the fund-of-fund’s own proprietary data, and allowed the group to produce custom reports for its clients that show expected drawdowns, distributions, and performance evolution over various horizons.
Tailored Portfolio Analytics
In a longstanding partnership, we continue work with one of the world’s largest asset managers to produce a variety of thought leadership materials on a recurring basis. From quarterly essays and webinars to custom research prepared for the group’s clients, we have produced novel insights on topics including innovative liquidity mechanisms, private market portfolio construction, new strategies emerging in private markets, and more over the past 10+ years.
Ongoing Research & Collaboration
In partnership with the Coller Research Institute and Bladonmore, we have served as editors and academic advisors for the recurring Private Equity Findings publication—now Private Capital Findings, in its 21st edition—which brings together insights from academics and practitioners alike on a number of contemporary topics in private equity. View the latest issue here.
Editorial Partnership with Coller Research Institute
We quantified the risk of a series of multi-billion dollar, multi-tranche securitized private equity offering issued by Azalea, an affiliate of Temasek, using a custom-built Monte Carlo-style simulation analysis. The results of this independent risk analysis were incorporated into the offering prospectuses to help educate potential investors. More about the series of offerings can be found here.
Independent Risk Assessment
We reviewed and guided the implementation of a private market portfolio forecasting and reporting framework for one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds. We worked directly with senior personnel to improve modeling inputs, assumptions, and outputs. We also implemented a version of our simulation-based cash flow forecasting approach.
Forecasting & Reporting Implementation
We produced a comprehensive, in-depth report outlining key concepts and best practices for investing in private markets for a large Middle Eastern family office. We paired the results of this report with a series of educational workshops and performance benchmarking assessments of the family office’s existing investments to provide a roadmap for building the family office’s investing capabilities, based on their track record to-date.
Family Office Investment Framework
On an annual basis, we organize an educational conference at the Harvard Faculty Club in Boston for a large South American bank’s private wealth clients. The conference features a variety of lectures, case studies, and interactive sessions led by leading business school professors that cover a wide range of contemporary private market topics.
Annual Private Markets Conference
Drawing on industry insights and outputs from our novel historical simulation model, we work with a government-affiliated banking group in North America working to build its private equity investing program. We prepare comprehensive analytical reports on a quarterly basis for the group’s investment committee that highlight market developments and expected liquidity and performance for the group’s complex, multi-asset portfolio to help inform future allocations.
Customized Liquidity & Performance Forecasting
We provided comprehensive performance tracking and benchmarking for a major emerging markets PE fund on a quarterly basis, comparing overall and fund-by-fund performance against relevant public and private market benchmarks. We also evaluated the sources of value creation within the firm through a detailed attribution analysis that assessed the proportion of returns created through market selection, use of leverage, and portfolio company outperformance.
Portfolio Performance Benchmarking

Delivering Results Around the Globe

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Client Countries

Bella’s global reach spans 30+ countries and 6 continents

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Clients Served

Bella has helped new and established groups alike from across the private market spectrum

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Combined Client AUM

Bella’s clients range from first-time funds to multi-trillion-dollar financial institutions

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Years Active

Bella has built longstanding relationships with private capital leaders over its decade-plus of advising the industry

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At Bella Private Markets, we are dedicated to providing world-class insights and analyses to help you navigate the complexities of the private market landscape. Our expert team is here to assist you through our consulting services, impactful research, and tailored training programs to help empower institutional decision-making.

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