Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist, 2nd Edition

Authors' Note

Over the course of this book, we've tried to expose you to all of the issues you'll face during a VC financing. In addition to the nuts and bolts of the term sheet, we've covered the participants in the process, discussed how the fund-raising process works, talked about how VC firms operate, and described some basic negotiating principles. We've also covered a bunch of dos and don'ts around the fund-raising process and, as a bonus, added a chapter deconstructing a typical letter of intent that you'd receive at the beginning of the acquisition process.

Though we are early stage investors, we've tried to explain issues that you'll face in any round of financing. We've tried to be balanced between the entrepreneur's view and the VC's view, as we've been both (although we've now been VCs for much longer). We've also included an entrepreneur's perspective—from Matt Blumberg, the CEO of Return Path—throughout the book.

We know much of this material is dry, and we tried hard to spice it up with our own special brand of humor. We've reviewed it many times but know there are likely some mistakes, as is inevitable with something this complex and subjective. We learn the most from our mistakes and encourage you to email us [e-mail] or [e-mail] with anything you find that is unclear or that you believe is incorrect.

Of course, none of the information in this book should be construed as legal advice from us. We are not your lawyers—just a pair of guys ...