Fundraising Field Guide: A Startup Founder's Handbook for Venture Capital

by Carlos Espinal, Matthew Cobb (Illustrator), Rebecca Heyman (Editor)

Note on the Second The first version of The Fundraising Field Guide was written and published via Reedsy in 2015 and has been used by many to help navigate their fund raise. However, a lot has evolved since then, so this updated version 2.0 has been written with new content, ideas, and strategies to help early-stage tech startup founders decipher and navigate the fundraising process.As a founder, It’s easy to get lost while trekking through the fundraising process. The dynamics of speaking to someone who has the capital you need, while discussing terms you’ve never heard of, can all be quite daunting. This book deciphers the secrets to raising capital from investors for early-stage, high-growth startups. Learn about communicating with investors, shareholders and lawyers. We will go over the materials you will need to prepare, the basics of how to understand your deal, and the mindset you will need to approach this journey successfully. The aim is to provide you, the ambitious early-stage founder with the right information to take your company to the next level.This new and updated version provides an overview of the soft and not-so-soft challenges you will need to prepare for as part of your fundraising journey, including things like reaching out to investors, dealing with rejections constructively, preparing materials and financials, understanding valuations and deal terms, how to manage the legal process and a crowdfunding chapter with statistics from crowdfunding platform Seedrs (who kindly helped in providing advice on how to best navigate). I sincerely hope you enjoy the book and get lots of use from it.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Startup

230 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 11, 2015

Reviews

[Anwer Qureishi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for Startup in early phases

Carlos, kudos to you for providing a thought framework for a novice or a start-up in early stages. The case studies and pertinent links to external resources and examples are invaluable.

Should be a must read for every entrepreneur.

[Sage Group · Rating 5 out of 5]

You won't be puzzled by terms after this book.

This author provided valuable guidance on structuring a venture capital company. plus, the knowledge needed and websites for future reference.

[Terence · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book on fundraising. A basic manual on everything from valuation to incorporation.

recommend

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear, concise and convincing

Amazing book about fundraising, getting straight to the core! Super helpful and well structured book that will give you a holistic understanding.

[Christopher Brodowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

The time flew so fast while I read this! Great (and most importantly comprehensive) guide to fundraising.

[Ricardo Figueiredo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A practical guide to understanding the fundraising process.

[Ivo Spigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book! Exactly as the title suggests, Carlos takes the reader through all of the key steps, concepts and processes in the challenging but extremely important task of finding the financial fuel to power the motors of their startup companies - i.e. fundraising.

Well written, based on Carlos' extensive experience as a partner in Seedcamp, one of the world's premiere early stage funds / startup programs, the book is highly readable although the topics are not trivial at all. If you want to find out more about Carlos and Seedcamp - well, he and his partner, Reshma Sohoni, are featured via interviews in my own book - The European Startup Revolution!

Let's just state all of this briefly: if you're a startup founder looking for funding (which one isn't?) you would be an *idiot* not to read this. Sorry for the harsh expression but that's just the way it is.

Happy reading and make sure to thank Carlos by donating to one of his charities of choice.

[Felipe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carlos Espinal cover the basic steps to understand a fundraising process for early-stage startups. It's a great and simple introduction to newbies, but also a good and fast review for experienced entrepreneurs.

[Niklas Slotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful and well written! Captures well the essentials of fundraising - a good read for an aspiring entrepreneur or established founder looking to raise capital.

[Gabriel Rondon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and based on Carlos's experiences with new companies investments. Good start point for someone who is working on fundraising plan either US or Europe (UK, France, Germany). Insightful.

[Tauri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read when new to fundraising. Goes through all the main aspects of fundraising and important terminology in the VC industry.