venture deals - brad feld and jason mendelson

people involved
common structure of vc and angel groups
tips on lawyers

tips on raising money
setting goals and determining how much money you need and for what
early stage models are probably horribly wrong
	focus more on time, runway, getting to next milestone
making short description of business, exec summary, presentation,
	business plan,
	expectations and minor tips
investors care mostly about
	the problem being solved
	the opportunity size
	the team strength
	the competitive landscape and how you fit in it
	your strategy
	your exploitable advantage
	your current status
expense plan, burn rate
demos are useful in early stage
tips on finding vcs
interpreting responses
try to get references from earlier investments that had trouble
	to see how vc reacted

overview of term sheets
vcs are primarily interested in ROI and ability to control decisions

economic terms
basic math and ways people talk about valuation
common confusing language
option pool, budgeting options for future hires
debt, convertible debt vs equity
rules on future rounds
vesting
option pools and their relation to valuation
antidilution

control terms
vcs often take less than 50% ownership but get control terms
board of directors, protective provisions, drag-along rights, conversion
protective lets vc veto things that dilute them, exercise
dragalong lets investors vote to force others to go along with things
conversion lets them go from preferred to common stock
	(can affect liquidation or control eventually)

a variety of other terms

capitalization tables
breakdown of who owns what percentage, shares, valuation

chapter on convertible debt
pros/cons
delay setting a valuation
might have discounts at future valuation
idea of valuation caps on conversion
	lets debt convert at lower valuation in future rounds
	effectively caps future valuations because
	future investors won't like the terms otherwise
mention weird legal situations that can happen
	because the company is legally insolvent

overview of common vc firm structure
how they raise money themselves
	funds have lifetimes
how they make money (as employees of the firm)
	eg management fees
	carried interest (their cut of success)

negotiation tactics to be aware of
understanding the deal, getting a fair one, not ruining relationships
tips about lawyers

letters of intent
things to worry about in selling, deals

legal things to be aware of
ip, employment, where you incorporate
whether investors are accredited
capital gains, tax on stock, forms
common stock valuation