Finance and Business Insight

By Claire Chen The universal status of Chinese food is perhaps the most iconic symbol of Chinese diasporic success. Even three years and five hundred miles out of the house, I can still find the dishes of my childhood when I walk down the streets of Nashville. No doubt you’ve ventured to these same businesses as well to chase that late-night fried rice craving that only Chinese takeout can fix. But the public-facing businesses catering to the American palate are just the surface of community innovation. The fried rice you trust is made by workers with W-2s in a kitchen…

By: Shane Mumma Editor’s Note: Shane and Ash are good friends. The following in-person interview has been edited for clarity and length. Shane: So, hello Ash! Welcome to this interview with the Vanderbilt Business Review—we’re happy to have you here! Basically, we’ve heard that you’ve launched a bunch of businesses during your time at Vanderbilt, and we’d love to hear about them. So, if you could tell me about your current business Feather—what it is, how you got the idea, and what the timeframe for it actually being available is. Ash: Sure, great! So yeah, I’m Ash. I’m a senior…

By Edward Ding (Featured image: creative common license) It would be an understatement to say that corporate debt is important. From Coca-Cola toTwitter, corporations are frequent borrowers that use bonds and loans to fund a wide range of difference business activities. Much of this debt financing occurs on the public markets, where investors supply capital in exchange for portions of debt. Leveraged finance, which refers to corporate debt rated at below investment grade (i.e., high-yield debt, “junk bonds”), constitutes a relatively riskier but still vital portion of these markets. By looking deeper into the present state of leveraged finance, we…