Raising Venture Capital - Hardcover

by Rupert Pearce (Author), Simon Barnes (Author)

Offering a deep insight into the venture capital deal-making process, Raising Venture Capital also provides valuable introduction to the subject. The book is practical in focus but based on sound academic theory, research and teaching materials gathered over the last 4 years at Tanaka Business School.

Part one covers the history of the venture capital industry, shows why entrepreneurs need venture capital finance, and looks at how venture capitals raise and structure their funds. It also covers valuation methods for venture capital investments, and portfolio management.

Part two illustrates how successful entrepreneurs raise finance from venture capitals, and gives details on how to approach venture capitals, how to choose the right venture capital firm, and how venture capitals and entrepreneurs work together after the deal is done.

Part three gives a blow-by-blow account of the structure of a venture capital deal.

Front Jacket

This is an important new book on the venture capital industry with something of use for everyone engaged in providing or seeking capital for start-up companies. Simple enough in language for those new to the industry to understand, yet detailed enough for those currently active as investors or entrepreneurs. It should be of interest to both academics and practitioners alike, with special relevance to anyone interested in being more effective at raising finance for their start-up company." - Scott Moeller, CEO & Director, Cass Executive Education, Cass Business School, formerly Managing Director and Founder of DB eVentures at Deutsche Bank

"Anyone thinking of starting a business should rush out and buy Raising Venture Capital. This book provides a clear and engaging explanation of the venture financing process, from a high level understanding of how venture capital works to the details of term sheets. I recommend this book to all my students." - Scott Shane, SBC Professor of Economics, Case Western Reserve University, and author of Finding Fertile Ground: Identifying Extraordinary Opportunities for New Businesses

"An excellent book - extremely readable, fun and accurate - I feel like I am walking the corridors of a major venture firm." - Stan Boland, CEO, Icera Semiconductor

"Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs inhabit a complex ecosystem with many important, but often opaque (to the entrepreneur) rules and interactions. This excellent book lays out clearly all of the important issues and background surrounding venture capital. Written by two authors with first hand experience of this industry, the book is refreshingly accurate and useful. I thoroughly recommend that anyone contemplating raising venture capital reads this book. All would-be venture capital reads this book. All would-be entrepreneurs and even seasoned veterans should read this book, as should those trying to understand or promote entrepreneurism: Your life will be easier and the chances of success will increase. I wish it had been available before I did my first deal!" - Professor Mark WJ Ferguson, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Renovo

Back Jacket

From early beginnings in the aftermath of World War II, the venture capital industry has evolved from an ad hoc collection of pioneering investors into a sophisticated, fast paced and highly specialised industry. During this period, venture capitalists have provided the fuel for entrepreneurs to create companies that have changed the face of the planet. The question of how the venture capital industry works, however, remains a mystery for many novice entrepreneurs, and the dynamics of venture capital deals are challenging for those without first-hand experience. This book examines the fundamentals that drive the VC industry, explains how these fundamentals translate into investments, and culminates in a blow-by-blow account of how venture capital deals are negotiated and structured by examining a real venture capital 'term sheet' in detail.

• Raising Venture Capital provides practical insights into positioning a business to raise venture capital finance, and how to navigate the investment process, based on a mix of real life deal experience and sound academic theory and research.
• The book reveals how the delicate relationship between entrepreneurs and venture capitalists is managed before, during and after the deal, creating the ideal platform on which to build a successful business.
• By understanding the principles that drive venture capital deals this book explains how entrepreneurs and venture capitalists can structure a win-win deal creating value for both.
• A detailed, clause-by-clause examination of a venture capital term sheet provides practical solutions to the typical 'sticking points' in a venture capital deal, provides insight into what can and cannot be negotiated, and minimises the risk of potentially successful deals being derailed.
• The book is intended for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists actively engaged in doing deals, investment bankers, lawyers and consultants who work with high growth venture-backed businesses and MBA students and policy makers alike who wish to understand how the venture capital business operates.

Author Biography

RUPERT PEARCE joined Inmarsat in 2005 as Group General Counsel. Inmarsat is the world's leading mobile satellite communications provider and recently underwent a $1,500 million leveraged buy-out by Apax and Permira and subsequent $3,000 million IPO on the London Stock Exchange. Inmarsat is now well-established in the FTSE 250. Prior to joining Inmarsat, Rupert was a General Partner at Atlas Venture, the leading transatlantic venture firm, responsible for corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions and special situations. He also served as Atlas Venture's European COO. Prior to Atlas Venture, Rupert was a partner at the international law firm Linklaters, specializing in corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions, technology and private equity. Rupert has therefore experienced private equity and venture capital transactions from the perspectives of investor, adviser and member of management. As a founder of Out-Take Limited, an on-line publisher, he has also dabbled in entrepreneurship.
Rupert holds a First Class MA in Modern History from Oxford University and won the 1995 Fullbright Fellowship in US Securities Laws, studying at Georgetown Law Centre, Washington DC.

SIMON BARNES is Director of the Entrepreneurship Centre, and Deputy Director of the Full Time MBA programme at the Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London. He teaches electives in new venture creation and venture capital finance on the MBA, MSc Finance and MSc Health Management as well as courses for the faculty of Imperial College's science and technology departments. His research at Imperial focuses on technology entrepreneurship and venture capital, with an emphasis on the development of university spin outs and technology ventures. Simon has six years of hands on experience in the venture capital industry, first with the transatlantic firm Atlas Venture and most recently with GIMV Venture Capital where he invested in early stage biotechnology companies. He has been a board director of several VC backed ventures, and lived through two M&A transactions at board level.
Simon received a first class honours degree and a PhD from The University of Cambridge. He holds an MBA with Distinction from the Tanaka Business School, Imperial College London, and was the winner of the European MBA Business Plan of the Year Competition in 1998.