What do you think?
Rate this book
Venture Capital Strategy: How to Think Like a Venture Capitalist
Praise from Jason Mendelson (auth. Venture Deals), "Patrick brings an educator's perspective and an entertainer's sensibilities to his overview of venture capital."An approachable but disciplined overview of venture capital written by a professional musician turned business school professor over a 15-year period of teaching venture capital and startup classes at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. The book is a one-stop shop for understanding venture capital, distilling lessons from hundreds of interactions with VCs and founders.
Readers of the book will
The core competencies of successful VCsWhat VC’s are looking for in startupsHow venture capital differs from other forms of startup financingHow the sharks on TV’s Shark Tank are ruining venture capitalThe top two terms on any term sheet (and a few other key terms)Why VCs often behave like music industry professionalsHow to think like a VCUnderstanding how venture capital works in our economy can be of benefit to a wide variety of readers, from entrepreneurs to corporate decision-makers and everyone in between. This book treats venture capital as a topic of entrepreneurial strategy, not finance, and includes a background of the industry, an explanation of all aspect of the "VC Job Cycle" and a framework called “VC Razor” for performing due diligence. Learning how to think like a venture capitalist can help anyone become a better decision-maker.
"Well organized, clearly articulated, this volume spans the gamut from beginner's overview to expert's guidebook. Venture Capital has never been more important, and this volume could not have been more timely."Jerome Engel, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business
"Patrick lays out important concepts and insights in an easy to understand and digest form. As he clearly articulates in the book, the way that venture capitalists think is valuable to anyone in business."John F. Clarke, Dean of Graduate Programs, Tulane University
Why Write Another Venture Capital Book?From the
Over the years as I have taught venture capital classes and run a worldwide venture capital competition, I have struggled to find materials for my students. I have been frustrated by the simultaneous abundance and lack of available content.
There is an abundance of terrific blogs written by VCs and founders, often teaching specific lessons derived from specific situations. Many VCs are prolific writers and have covered a wide variety of topics of the VC investment process. However, most blog postings have a very narrow scope, and they are not organized into a coherent body of work. They go deep in the weeds, but the forest gets lost.
Similarly, there is also an abundance of textbooks that treat venture capital as a topic of finance. Wrong forest! Venture capital is undeniably a subset of private equity. However, approaching the industry from that perspective ignores the vast majority of what VCs actually do. If you would like to study venture capital as a finance subject, there are many other books that will serve you better than this one.
Treating venture capital as a topic of finance overemphasizes the importance of numbers. For VCs, number play a large role, but just as important is the story about the numbers. In this regard, I will argue that VCs are more like journalists and filmmakers than financiers.
Readers of the book will
The core competencies of successful VCsWhat VC’s are looking for in startupsHow venture capital differs from other forms of startup financingHow the sharks on TV’s Shark Tank are ruining venture capitalThe top two terms on any term sheet (and a few other key terms)Why VCs often behave like music industry professionalsHow to think like a VCUnderstanding how venture capital works in our economy can be of benefit to a wide variety of readers, from entrepreneurs to corporate decision-makers and everyone in between. This book treats venture capital as a topic of entrepreneurial strategy, not finance, and includes a background of the industry, an explanation of all aspect of the "VC Job Cycle" and a framework called “VC Razor” for performing due diligence. Learning how to think like a venture capitalist can help anyone become a better decision-maker.
"Well organized, clearly articulated, this volume spans the gamut from beginner's overview to expert's guidebook. Venture Capital has never been more important, and this volume could not have been more timely."Jerome Engel, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business
"Patrick lays out important concepts and insights in an easy to understand and digest form. As he clearly articulates in the book, the way that venture capitalists think is valuable to anyone in business."John F. Clarke, Dean of Graduate Programs, Tulane University
Why Write Another Venture Capital Book?From the
Over the years as I have taught venture capital classes and run a worldwide venture capital competition, I have struggled to find materials for my students. I have been frustrated by the simultaneous abundance and lack of available content.
There is an abundance of terrific blogs written by VCs and founders, often teaching specific lessons derived from specific situations. Many VCs are prolific writers and have covered a wide variety of topics of the VC investment process. However, most blog postings have a very narrow scope, and they are not organized into a coherent body of work. They go deep in the weeds, but the forest gets lost.
Similarly, there is also an abundance of textbooks that treat venture capital as a topic of finance. Wrong forest! Venture capital is undeniably a subset of private equity. However, approaching the industry from that perspective ignores the vast majority of what VCs actually do. If you would like to study venture capital as a finance subject, there are many other books that will serve you better than this one.
Treating venture capital as a topic of finance overemphasizes the importance of numbers. For VCs, number play a large role, but just as important is the story about the numbers. In this regard, I will argue that VCs are more like journalists and filmmakers than financiers.
335 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 30, 2020
70 people are currently reading
148 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 6, 2021
I’m not a venture capitalist, knew very little about what it was, how it worked, how it led technology, etc. I found it easy to understand, and now I encourage others to read this and go for it. It’s not Shark Tank, which mis-portrays what it really is.
March 5, 2023
Read this book in a day on the plane to a VC investment competition. Good primer to VC and decently well written. Would be helpful to anyone new to the space or starting a job in VC.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews