Startup VC - Guide

Everything Entrepreneurs Need to Know about Venture Capital and Startup Fundraising

Jason Thiel

• Publisher: Books on Demand
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9783753473024
• eBook ISBN: 9783752697391
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Management
• Index: Business

If you are an inventor or an entrepreneur with your eyes set on development or starting a business, then funding is a prime concern of yours. All the ideas in the world will not bring a pay check to your bank if you do not have the capital to evolve those ideas into a solid, workable business. The phrase, "You have to spend money to make money" is incredibly true, at least when it comes to start ups and creating the business of your dreams.Luckily, the funding you need is available through venture capital. You may have heard of it, but you may not know exactly what it is, or if such a thing can help you. This guide explores almost every avenue of venture capital investing; what it is, who are venture capitalists, how to qualify for it, how to interest a venture capital firm and much, much more. The capital you need is out there, IF you know how to get it, and this book can help you do that. It truly is everything the Entrepreneur needs to know about Venture Capital and Start-up Fundraising.

What is Venture capital

Venture capital is money provided by professionals who invest alongside management in young, rapidly growing companies that have the potential to develop into significant economic contributors. Venture capital is an important source of equity for start-up companies.

Professionally managed venture capital firms generally are private partnerships or closely-held corporations funded by private and public pension funds, endowment funds, foundations, corporations, wealthy individuals, foreign investors, and the venture capitalists themselves.

Venture capitalists generally:

• Finance new and rapidly growing companies;
• Purchase equity securities;
• Assist in the development of new products or services;
• Add value to the company through active participation;
• Take higher risks with the expectation of higher rewards;
• Have a long-term orientation

When considering an investment, venture capitalists carefully screen the technical and business merits of the proposed company. Venture capitalists only invest in a small percentage of the businesses they review and have a long-term perspective. Going forward, they actively work with the company's management by contributing their experience and business savvy gained from helping other companies with similar growth challenges.

Venture capitalists mitigate the risk of venture investing by developing a portfolio of young companies in a single venture fund. Many times they will co-invest with other professional venture capital firms. In addition, many venture partnership will manage multiple funds simultaneously. For decades, venture capitalists have nurtured the growth of America's high technology and entrepreneurial communities resulting in significant job creation, economic growth and international competitiveness. Companies such as Digital Equipment Corporation, Apple, Federal Express, Compaq, Sun Microsystems, Intel, Microsoft and Genentech are famous examples of companies that received venture capital early in their development.

Private Equity Investing

Venture capital investing has grown from a small investment pool in the 1960s and early 1970s to a mainstream asset class that is a viable and significant part of the institutional and corporate investment portfolio. Recently, some investors have been referring to venture investing and buyout investing as "private equity investing." This term can be confusing because some in the investment industry use the term "private equity" to refer only to buyout fund investing.

In any case, an institutional investor will allocate 2% to 3% of their institutional portfolio for investment in alternative assets such as private equity or venture capital as part of their overall asset allocation. Currently, over 50% of investments in venture capital/private equity comes from institutional public and private pension funds, with the balance coming from endowments, foundations, insurance companies, banks, individuals and other entities who seek to diversify their portfolio with this investment class.

What is a Venture Capitalist?

The typical person-on-the-street depiction of a venture capitalist is that of a wealthy financier who wants to fund start-up companies. The perception is that a person who develops a brand new change-the-world invention needs capital; thus, if they can't get capital from a bank or from their own pockets, they enlist the help of a venture capitalist.

In truth, venture capital and private equity firms are pools of capital, typically organized as a limited partnership, that invests in companies that represent the opportunity for a high rate of return within five to seven years. The venture capitalist may look at several hundred investment opportunities before investing in only a few selected companies with favorable investment opportunities. Far from being simply passive financiers, venture capitalists foster growth in companies through their involvement in the management, strategic marketing and planning of their investee companies. They are entrepreneurs first and financiers second.

Even individuals may be venture capitalists. In the early days of venture capital investment, in the 1950s and 1960s, individual investors were the archetypal venture investor. While this type of individual investment did not totally disappear, the modern venture firm emerged as the dominant venture investment vehicle. However, in the last few years, individuals have again become a potent and increasingly larger part of the early stage start-up venture life cycle. These "angel investors" will mentor a company and provide needed capital and expertise to help develop companies. Angel investors may either be wealthy people with management expertise or retired business men and women who seek the opportunity for firsthand business development.

Investment Focus

Venture capitalists may be generalist or specialist investors depending on their investment strategy. Venture capitalists can be generalists, investing in various industry sectors, or various geographic locations, or various stages of a company's life. Alternatively, they may be specialists in one or two industry sectors, or may seek to invest in only a localized geographic area.

Not all venture capitalists invest in "startups." While venture firms will invest in companies that are in their initial start-up modes, venture capitalists will also invest in companies at various stages of the business life cycle. A venture capitalist may invest before there is a real product or company organized (so called "seed investing"), or may provide capital to start up a company in its first or second stages of development known as "early stage investing." Also, the venture capitalist may provide needed financing to help a company grow beyond a critical mass to become more successful ("expansion stage financing").

The venture capitalist may invest in a company throughout the company's life cycle and therefore some funds focus on later stage investing by providing financing to help the company grow to a critical mass to attract public financing through a stock offering. Alternatively, the venture capitalist may help the company attract a merger or acquisition with another company by providing liquidity and exit for the company's founders.

At the other end of the spectrum, some venture funds specialize in the acquisition, turnaround or recapitalization of public and private companies that represent favorable investment opportunities.

There are venture funds that will be broadly diversified and will invest in companies in various industry sectors as diverse as semiconductors, software...

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Limitations and exclusions of liability
• Table of Contents
• Vеnturе саріtаl
• What is Venture capital
• Venture Cаріtаl Fіrm
• Fіndіng a Vеnturе Cаріtаl Fіrm
• Obtaining Vеnturе Capital Fоr Business Stаrtuр
• Venture Cаріtаl Financing Tips
• Attracting Vеnturе Capital
• Fоur Steps Towards Attrасtіng Vеnturе Capital Investments
• Hоw To Rаіѕе Venture Capital
• Elements оf a Term-Sheet
• Rеjесtіng Rеаѕоnѕ
• Copyright