Venture's Financing and Investing in Private Companies: A Guide to Understanding Entrepreneurs and Their Relationships With Investors, Lenders, and A

Rating:
Summary: Still one of the best VC "how to" books, despite its age.
Review: Despite the book's venerable age, Arthur Lipper's advice is still spot-on for those interested in becoming part of a VC firm, or for those who have money and wish to invest in high growth private enterprises. Having been in the industry for almost 20 years myself, I re-read Lipper's text at least once every few years to remind myself of some of the fundamentals one tends to overlook when deeply immersed in the art of "the deal". Most usefully, Lipper includes sections on evaluation of rates of return, structuring deals with mutual parity, and even a section on questions one often gets from entrepreneurs, and the logical (detached) responses. In an industry reputedly characterized by innovative and creative thinkers, which is, in reality, often characterized by an almost lemming-like herd mentality, Lipper's work encourages calm thinking and a focus on the fundamentals: of the business, of the deal, and of the objectives both the entrepreneur and the investor.