Case A describes the creation and growth of Nuru Energy. Starting from nothing, the founder 'bootstraps' a social venture with the goal of providing affordable and effective lighting solutions for 800 million people without access to the electricity grid in sub-Saharan Africa and India.

Aquasure - a consortium formed by Macquarie, Degremont and Thiess - won the concession to finance, build, maintain and operate the A$5.72 billion Victorian Desalination plant under a public-private partnership initiative known as Partnerships Victoria. Financing took place during the period of the global financial crisis and there was a subsequent political backlash.

Nokia has dominated the mobile handset business for over 20 years. But as mobile technologies evolves and the consumer focus shiftsfrom handset design towards software and content platforms, it creates an opportunity for new players, such as RIM, Apple and Google, to enter the market and challenge Nokia’s position.

Cumberland Entertainment, a niche music producer, was looking for capital to finance its planned expansion. CEO, Tom Smith, entered into negotiations with private equity firms, and struck an agreement that turned out to be incomplete. As a result, serious problems arose between financial investors and management.

Launched in 1998, Russian Standard vodka quickly became the highest selling premium vodka in Russia, ahead of Stoli, Smirnoff, and Absolut.