The Venture Capital Investment Framework Venture capital is the economic engine that drives entrepreneurship and innovation through capital investments, board membership, advice, introductions to relevant employees, and customers. Despite the outsized importance of venture capital, the inner workings remain hidden. Venture is still a mentor-led industry and it is an industry where you have to do a lot of self-education—you have to learn by doing, and you have to get up to speed quickly. Until now. Author William Lin spent over a decade in venture capital, starting in an entry-level position, helping to start a leading VC firm from scratch, and eventually becoming Managing Partner. In The VC Field Guide: Fundamentals of Venture Capital, Lin shares his unique framework, the Venture Capital Investment Framework, to help any venture capitalist, entrepreneur, or investor make better investment decisions, quicker. He delivers an incisive and practical handbook for the world of venture capital. You’ll learn about the industry, how to break into it, and discover the art of investing in startups, and more, including: How VC deals are analyzed, vetted, and made Which questions experienced and successful venture capital investors ask startup founders when making investment decisions, and why those questions matter The venture capital mindset that dominates the thinking of the most prominent venture capital investors The best ways to begin a career in venture capital and tips on advancing your career Key differences between multi-stage and boutique firms and what it means for entrepreneurs The different factors VCs use to evaluate early-stage versus late-stage companies If you want to be close to company creation and innovation as a venture capitalist, investor, or entrepreneur, this book is for you. If you want to be involved in situations that impact economic growth, innovation, and the founders, employees, vendors, and communities that support the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem, this book is for you. The VC Field Guide is not only a primer on the inner workings of the venture capital industry, but a timely framework for how investment decisions are made. Anyone who wants to better understand how venture capital investments are made, and why will find this book helpful.

The Venture Capital Investment Framework Venture capital is the economic engine that drives entrepreneurship and innovation through capital investments, board membership, advice, introductions to relevant employees, and customers. Despite the outsized importance of venture capital, the inner workings remain hidden. Venture is still a mentor-led industry and it is an industry where you have to do a lot of self-education—you have to learn by doing, and you have to get up to speed quickly. Until now. Author William Lin spent over a decade in venture capital, starting in an entry-level position, helping to start a leading VC firm from scratch, and eventually becoming Managing Partner. In The VC Field Guide: Fundamentals of Venture Capital, Lin shares his unique framework, the Venture Capital Investment Framework, to help any venture capitalist, entrepreneur, or investor make better investment decisions, quicker. He delivers an incisive and practical handbook for the world of venture capital. You’ll learn about the industry, how to break into it, and discover the art of investing in startups, and more, including: How VC deals are analyzed, vetted, and made Which questions experienced and successful venture capital investors ask startup founders when making investment decisions, and why those questions matter The venture capital mindset that dominates the thinking of the most prominent venture capital investors The best ways to begin a career in venture capital and tips on advancing your career Key differences between multi-stage and boutique firms and what it means for entrepreneurs The different factors VCs use to evaluate early-stage versus late-stage companies If you want to be close to company creation and innovation as a venture capitalist, investor, or entrepreneur, this book is for you. If you want to be involved in situations that impact economic growth, innovation, and the founders, employees, vendors, and communities that support the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem, this book is for you. The VC Field Guide is not only a primer on the inner workings of the venture capital industry, but a timely framework for how investment decisions are made. Anyone who wants to better understand how venture capital investments are made, and why will find this book helpful.

Rand Fishkin, the founder and former CEO of Moz, reveals how traditional Silicon Valley "wisdom" leads far too many startups astray, with the transparency and humor that his hundreds of thousands of blog readers have come to love. Everyone knows how a startup story is supposed to go: A young, brilliant entrepreneur has a cool idea, drops out of college, defies the doubters, overcomes all odds, makes billions, and becomes the envy of the technology world. This is not that story. It's not that things went badly for Rand Fishkin; they just weren't quite so Zuckerberg-esque. His company, Moz, maker of marketing software, is now a $45 million/year business, and he's one of the world's leading experts on SEO. But his business and reputation took fifteen years to grow, and his startup began not in a Harvard dorm room but as a mother-and-son family business that fell deeply into debt. Now Fishkin pulls back the curtain on tech startup mythology, exposing the ups and downs of startup life that most CEOs would rather keep secret. For instance: A minimally viable product can be destructive if you launch at the wrong moment. Growth hacking may be the buzzword du jour, but initiatives can fizzle quickly. Revenue and growth won't protect you from layoffs. And venture capital always comes with strings attached. Fishkin's hard-won lessons are applicable to any kind of business environment. Up or down the chain of command, at both early stage startups and mature companies, whether your trajectory is riding high or down in the dumps: this book can help solve your problems, and make you feel less alone for having them.

An engaging guide to excelling in today's venture capital arena Beginning in 2005, Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson, managing directors at Foundry Group, wrote a long series of blog posts describing all the parts of a typical venture capital Term Sheet: a document which outlines key financial and other terms of a proposed investment. Since this time, they've seen the series used as the basis for a number of college courses, and have been thanked by thousands of people who have used the information to gain a better understanding of the venture capital field. Drawn from the past work Feld and Mendelson have written about in their blog and augmented with newer material, Venture Capital Financings puts this discipline in perspective and lays out the strategies that allow entrepreneurs to excel in their start-up companies. Page by page, this book discusses all facets of the venture capital fundraising process. Along the way, Feld and Mendelson touch on everything from how valuations are set to what externalities venture capitalists face that factor into entrepreneurs' businesses. Includes a breakdown analysis of the mechanics of a Term Sheet and the tactics needed to negotiate Details the different stages of the venture capital process, from starting a venture and seeing it through to the later stages Explores the entire venture capital ecosystem including those who invest in venture capitalist Contain standard documents that are used in these transactions Written by two highly regarded experts in the world of venture capital The venture capital arena is a complex and competitive place, but with this book as your guide, you'll discover what it takes to make your way through it.

A comprehensive guide on creating, growing, and leveraging a board of directors written for CEOs, board members, and people seeking board roles. The first time many founders see the inside of a board room is when they step in to lead their board. But how do boards work? How should they be structured, managed, and leveraged so that startups can grow, avoid pitfalls, and get the best out of their boards? Authors Brad Feld, Mahendra Ramsinghani, and Matt Blumberg have collectively served on hundreds of startup and scaleup boards over the past 30 years, attended thousands of board meetings, encountered multiple personalities and situations, and seen the good, bad, and ugly of boards. In Startup Boards: A Field Guide to Building and Leading an Effective Board of Directors, the authors provide seasoned advice and guidance to CEOs, board members, investors, and anyone aspiring to serve on a board. This comprehensive book covers a wide range of topics with relevant tips, tactics, and best practices, including: Board fundamentals such as the board's purpose, legal characteristics, and roles and functions of board members; Creating a board including size, composition, roles of VCs and independent directors, what to look for in a director, and how to recruit directors; Compensating, onboarding, removing directors, and suggestions on building a diverse board; Preparing for and running board meetings; The board's role in transactions including selling a company, buying a company, going public, and going out of business; Advice for independent and aspiring directors. Startup Boards draws on the authors' experience and includes stories from board members, startup founders, executives, and investors. Any CEO, board member, investor, or executive interested in creating an active, involved, and engaged board should read this book—and keep it handy for reference.

You’re only a startup CEO once. Do it well with Startup CEO, a "master class in building a business." —Dick Costolo, Former CEO, Twitter Being a startup CEO is a job like no other: it’s difficult, risky, stressful, lonely, and often learned through trial and error. As a startup CEO seeing things for the first time, you’re likely to make mistakes, fail, get things wrong, and feel like you don’t have any control over outcomes. Author Matt Blumberg has been there, and in Startup CEO he shares his experience, mistakes, and lessons learned as he guided Return Path from a handful of employees and no revenues to over $100 million in revenues and 500 employees. Startup CEO is not a memoir of Return Path's 20-year journey but a thoughtful CEO-focused book that provides first-time CEOs with advice, tools, and approaches for the situations that startup CEOs will face. You'll learn: How to tell your story to new hires, investors, and customers for greater alignment How to create a values-based culture for speed and engagement How to create business and personal operating systems so that you can balance your life and grow your company at the same time How to develop, lead, and leverage your board of directors for greater impact How to ensure that your company is bought, not sold, when you exit Startup CEO is the field guide every CEO needs throughout the growth of their company.

An essential guide to understanding the dynamics of a startup's board of directors Let's face it, as founders and entrepreneurs, you have a lot on your plate—getting to your minimum viable product, developing customer interaction, hiring team members, and managing the accounts/books. Sooner or later, you have a board of directors, three to five (or even seven) Type A personalities who seek your attention and at times will tell you what to do. While you might be hesitant to form a board, establishing an objective outside group is essential for startups, especially to keep you on track, call you out when you flail, and in some cases, save you from yourself. In Startup Boards, Brad Feld—a Boulder, Colorado-based entrepreneur turned-venture capitalist—shares his experience in this area by talking about the importance of having the right board members on your team and how to manage them well. Along the way, he shares valuable insights on various aspects of the board, including how they can support you, help you understand your startup's milestones and get to them faster, and hold you accountable. Details the process of choosing board members, including interviewing many people, checking references, and remembering that there should be no fear in rejecting a wrong fit Explores the importance of running great meetings, mixing social time with business time, and much more Recommends being a board member yourself at some other organization so you see the other side of the equation Engaging and informative, Startup Boards is a practical guide to one of the most important pieces of the startup puzzle.