Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital-and How to Get It

Description

The insider's guide to Venture Capital by Scott Kupor, managing partner of Andreessen Horowitz - the iconic Silicon Valley investment firm 'Worth far more than its cover price ... I wish I'd had it available to me when I was first looking for startup funding' -- Eric Ries Every startup needs capital, and ambitious startups seek it on Sand Hill Road - Silicon Valley's dream street for entrepreneurs. That's where you'll find the biggest names in venture capital, including the famed VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, where lawyer-turned-entrepreneur-turned-VC Scott Kupor serves as managing partner. Whether you're trying to get a new company off the ground or scale an existing business to the next level, you need to understand how VCs think. Secrets of Sand Hill Road is the first book that shows you exactly how VCs decide where and how much to invest. It will help you get the best possible deal and make the most of your relationships with VCs. You'll learn, for instance- -- Why most VCs typically invest in only one startup in a given business category -- Why the talent you need most when raising venture capital is your storytelling ability -- How to handle a 'down round', when you have to raise funds at a lower valuation than in your previous round -- Why bridge financing (reopening your last round to existing investors) is generally a bad idea -- What to do when VCs get too entangled in the day-to-day operations of your business -- Why you need to build relationships with potential acquirers long before you decide to sell Filled with Kupor's firsthand experiences, insider advice, and practical takeaways, Secrets of Sand Hill Road is the guide you need to turn yourstartup into the next unicorn.

SCOTT KUPOR is managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz. He has overseen the firm's rapid growth to one hundred fifty employees and more than $7 billion in assets under management. He is also a cofounder and codirector of the Stanford Venture Capital Director's College and teaches venture capital and corporate governance courses at Stanford Law School and the Haas School of Business and Boalt School of Law at UC Berkeley. He is vice-chair of the investment committee for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and was previously the chairman of the board of the National Venture Capital Association.

Worth far more than its cover price ... I wish I'd had it available to me when I was first looking for startup funding * ERIC RIES, bestselling author of tHE LEAN STARTUP and THE STARTUP WAY, from the foreword * As someone who helped a small company become a huge, valuable company, I know firsthand the power of the startup ecosystem and entrepreneurship. This is the definitive book on navigating VC as part of that * ERIC SCHMIDT, former executive chairman and CEO, Google; technical advisor, Alphabet Inc * I've observed thousands of founders and thought a lot about what it takes to create something important and to achieve outlier success. Kupor's book takes founders who want to do both through everything from how VCs raise money and evaluate deals, to how to think about term sheets and set up boards. It's a valuable resource for any founder who wants to work with VCs * SAM ALTMAN, partner and president, Y Combinator; cofounder, OpenAI * Secrets of Sand Hill Road is the definitive guide to how to engage the VC community, including governance and other best practices, in a startup's journey to a successful public company * ADENA FRIEDMAN, president and CEO, Nasdaq; former managing director and CFO, The Carlyle Group * From acquiring startups, to leading a company, to working to select the next leader of an iconic company, I've seen it all. It's become clear to me that startups drive the kind of innovation that big companies can't easily do. Secrets of Sand Hill Road provides a useful overview for the next generation of leaders seeking to start such companies * JOHN W. THOMPSON, chairman, Microsoft; former CEO, Symantec *