Venture Deals: “How to be Smarter than your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist” totally rocks. Here are the top ten reasons. It took me forever to boil this list down from about 30 reasons.
- 10. It’s written in plain English. When I first started angel investing, it took me a long time to understand term sheets and how venture and angel deals really worked. It felt overly complicated. Venture Deals is incredibly approachable while still thorough.
- 9. It’s deep. It doesn’t just talk about venture term sheets. It explores the whole venture ecosystem from the entrepreneurs through to the limited partners in the funds. This helps you quickly get a much better understanding of how the whole system works, vs just the tip of the iceberg. This book goes end to end.
- 8. It is balanced. It’s not just the VC view. Brad and Jason identify with the entrepreneurs in this book. For example, some of my favorite parts are the tips on how to negotiate a term sheet.
- 7. It’s real. Where VC is art, they don’t pretend it’s not. Sometimes people look for formulas (e.g. valuations) and Venture Deals helps you understand that it’s not always about the math.
- 6. It’s the fastest way to learn to “speak” VC. VC is full of lingo – this book helps entrepreneurs be native in those conversations.
- 5. It’s practical. Venture Deals helps you understand when to argue about certain points in a venture deal and when not to care. Price and control, that’s where it’s at.
- 4. It’s fun. Yep, what could be a super dry topic is turned into a fun and engaging read. That makes you actually want to understand it, and it delivers smiles throughout. Brad and Jason don’t take themselves too seriously in life or in this book. That’s a nice change for such a serious topic when you’re trying to learn.
- 3. It tells you why. Venture Deals doesn’t stop at what you should or shouldn’t do. It explains why. Advice is one thing, but understanding is quite another. Venture Deals nails this.
- 2. It gives counterpoints. One of my favorite saying around Techstars is that “it’s just data”. Brad and Jason thoughtfully include counterpoints where appropriate to always remind the reader that there is no “right way” in every case.
- 1. Unequivocally, Jason Mendelson and Brad Feld both rock. So this book rocks by association. These guys both care about entrepreneurs, and it’s plainly evident from this book.
