The Merchant of Venice

It might seem odd, but there is no real better book than this one to illustrate the challenges of private equity. I use it as an example in my training sessions regularly.

The Merchant of Venice is not only one of the best plays on finance and ethics, but also the perfect illustration of the challenges of start-up investing before it became a profession. This play illustrates how venture financing differs in practice from bank financing. It also conveys the uncertainties associated with entrepreneurship, and how some capital providers are not able to take such a risk.

Shakespeare masters… show more.

You may not think of The Merchant of Venice as a trial book, but the majority of Act IV takes place in a Venice courtroom where Shylock, Antonio, Bassanio, and the Duke thrash out the ‘pound of flesh’ business. In a sense, the play itself is a corrupt judgment against Jews, trafficking as it does in nasty anti-Semitic stereotypes. Shakespeare left it to later writers to give a more well-rounded account of Jewish people. But Merchant is at the same time a fine study of the rage that such racial injustice provokes, and as with pretty much everything Shakespeare ever… show more.