Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist

Brad Feld, Jason Mendelson

John Wiley & Sons, Aug 27, 2019 - Business & Economics - 368 pages

Help take your startup to the next step with the new and revised edition of the popular book on the VC deal process—from the co-founders of the Foundry Group

How do venture capital deals come together? This is one of the most frequent questions asked by each generation of new entrepreneurs. Surprisingly, there is little reliable information on the subject. No one understands this better than Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson. The founders and driving force behind the Foundry Group—a venture capital firm focused on investing in early-stage information technology companies—Brad and Jason have been involved in hundreds of venture capital financings. Their investments range from small startups to large Series A venture financing rounds. The new edition of Venture Deals continues to show fledgling entrepreneurs the inner-workings of the VC process, from the venture capital term sheet and effective negotiating strategies to the initial seed and the later stages of development.

Fully updated to reflect the intricacies of startups and entrepreneurship in today's dynamic economic environment, this new edition includes revisions and updates to coverage on negotiating, gender issues, ICO’s, and economic terms. New chapters examine legal and procedural considerations relevant to fundraising, bank debt, equity and convertible debt, how to hire an investment banker to sell a company, and more.

• Provides valuable, real-world insights into venture capital structure and strategy
• Explains and clarifies the VC term sheet and other misunderstood aspects of capital funding
• Helps to build collaborative and supportive relationships between entrepreneurs and investors
• Draws from the author’s years of practical experience in the VC arena
• Includes extensively revised and updated content throughout to increase readability and currency

Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist is a must-have resource for Any aspiring entrepreneur, venture capitalist, or lawyer involved in VC deals as well as students and instructors in related areas of study.

Contents

• Preparing for Fundraising: 17
• 3: 23
• 4: 41
• Control Terms of the Term Sheet: 77
• 7: 91
• Convertible Debt: 113
• 9: 129
• Crowdfunding: 137
• Venture Debt: 145
• 15: 153
• How Venture Capital Funds Work: 167
• iii: 180
• Negotiation Tactics: 187
• Raising Money the Right Way: 209
• Issues at Different Financing Stages: 215
• The Other Term Sheet: 221
• How to Engage an Investment Banker: 243
• Why Do Term Sheets Even Exist?: 253
• Legal Things Every Entrepreneur Should Know: 259
• Authors Note: 273
• Foundry Group Term Sheet: 285
• Sample Letter of Intent: 295
• Additional Resources: 303
• Glossary: 307
• About the Authors: 321

About the author

BRAD FELD has been an early stage investor and entrepreneur for over thirty years. Prior to cofounding Foundry Group, he cofounded Mobius Venture Capital and Intensity Ventures. He is also a cofounder of Techstars.

JASON MENDELSON has over twenty years experience in the venture capital and technology industries in a multitude of investing, legal, and operational roles. Prior to cofounding Foundry Group, Jason was a Managing Director and General Counsel for Mobius Venture Capital. He is also a cofounder of SRS/Acquiom.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist
• Authors: Brad Feld, Jason Mendelson
• Edition: 4
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2019
• ISBN: 1119594820, 9781119594826
• Length: 368 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Corporate Finance / Venture Capital; Business & Economics / Entrepreneurship; Business & Economics / New Business Enterprises; Business & Economics / Personal Finance / General