Attracting Startup Investments - Feld and Mendelssohn Book

Book by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelssohn “Attracting Startup Investments. How to agree with the investor on the terms of financing ”explains in detail the stages of the venture transaction for each of its participants.

The book will be useful to a novice entrepreneur who is engaged in the implementation of a startup project, investors and lawyers. It will not hurt to get acquainted with it and students planning their work in IT in order to get a clear understanding of the aspects of organizing the financing of high-tech projects. The authors analyzed their own 17-year experience in financing startups. Many of their projects were later acquired by well-known companies such as IBM and Google.

The book presents various specific financing schemes. True, in the current Russian conditions for business development, most of them are not applicable due to differences in legislation. It is likely that in the future the capabilities of startup financing mechanisms will be expanded. However, the above recommendations will be very useful to domestic entrepreneurs, explaining how to attract financing to the business.

The work consistently describes the process of venture financing. It explains how to interest an investor and build the most effective relationships. It is emphasized that in the future these relations must be maintained and developed. The mistake of startups may be the loss of control over the company. Given this, the authors give an example of a contract that provides all the prospects for the development of business relations and helps to prevent mutual claims from its participants. Samples of the terms of the agreement and letters of intent, which are the main documents when processing the transaction, are also given.

“Brad and Jason have written a book extremely useful for any ambitious entrepreneur, student, or novice businessman. The authors are not limited to technical aspects: while reading I came across real pearls of wisdom, which, despite all my experience, I can use in my work ”

- Dick Costolo, CEO of Twitter (March 2011).

The book is in addition: Peter Thiel “Startup” (Peter Thiel taught the “Startup” course at Stanford University in spring 2012. Before the first lecture, Peter told the audience: “If I do my job correctly, this will be the last subject that you will have to study” )