As a tech founder, raising venture capital has become as commonplace as building an MVP. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, though, resources for building your MVP are plentiful, but there are very few resources to help you understand what venture capital is, how it behaves and why, and – most importantly – what it expects of you.
Without even a basic understanding of venture capital, how do you know that venture is the right type of funding for you, and how will you identify the right capital partner?
You may have already accessed our resource helping you identify what venture investors look for in your pitch deck. But that presumes you know that you want venture capital which, in turn, presumes you know what venture capital is.
As a venture capitalist looking to earn the right to invest in you, making sure you have the answers to these questions is as important to us as it should be to you.
Our interests are aligned! After all, the lifeblood of any venture investor is a healthy pipeline of investment-ready startups.
The new standard of investor-readiness – which we explain in detail here – requires that founders be intentional about raising venture capital. That means that you’ve taken the time to understand venture capital as an asset class, and that you’ve made the affirmative decision to want to be – and to be doing something capable of being – a good fit for venture capital.
This is why I’ve created this comprehensive venture capital mini-course to walk you through – in plain-English – all the foundational knowledge you need about venture capital.
In the mini-course, I cover:
- What actually is venture capital – and what do venture capitalists expect of you?
- The three major ways to raise venture capital (equity, convertible debt, and convertible equity), along with the advantages and disadvantages of each.
- How to negotiate the best deal for your startup when raising venture capital.
- How to build, model, and manage your cap table to avoid BIG common mistakes made by founders (including a simple, downloadable cap table tool).
- How to apply all of this knowledge to build a business VCs want to invest in.
I hope you find it helpful as you prepare to raise outside capital. And, when you’re ready, I hope you think of me and GrowthX!
