Venture Capital Investing: The Complete Handbook for Investing in Private Businesses for Outstanding Profits

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Summary: VC Investing Basics
Review: Much updated from previous editions, David Gladstone's useful text provides a very cursory survey of deal and investment techniques, albeit for slightly later than "sexy" stage deals. However, as this book is designed for the novice, and as Lipper's text has fallen out of print, this sadly remains the only general text on VC investing for the inexperienced, and is useful in context of the level which it is designed to educate. While the many checklists may be somewhat annoying to seasoned VCs, they are probably indispensable to the novice investor, since they provide a summary framework when working through deal and business terms. And while the book is designed more for later stage (through certainly not LATE stage, as some have alluded to) deals, the book is, again, designed to educate the novice venture investor, who really shouldn't be doing high tech start-ups anyway. Irrespective of that, anyone who presumes to write a text on investing in high tech start ups would likely find his text applicable only for the next few months after printing. Ours is an industry that evolves very quickly, and changes rapidly in accordance to the latest trends. No one can teach you how to pick the winners in the trend that hasn't happened yet. Getting the basics from a text like Gladstone's, however, can give you the fundamentals on which to build that "knack".

Rating:
Summary: Insightful!
Review: This book is a thorough, practical guide to the nitty-gritty of venture capital investing. This comprehensive, well-organized instruction manual summarizes the homework you should do before you make a venture capital investment, the paperwork needed to carry out the investment and the ongoing work you will have to undertake to have a prayer of seeing your investment pay off. If it is a little plodding, you can understand why. It covers a lot of ground. The authors compare venture capital investing to a partnership at one point, to a marriage at another. They don't attempt to sell you on venture investing. In fact, by telling you how difficult and labor intensive it is, they may even drive you away. We believe this book definitely belongs in the library of anyone who has ever taken a serious interest in venture investing. It will also help entrepreneurs who need venture capital financing by showing them how to evaluate their companies according to the criteria that serious investors are apt to use.