Venture Capital Strategy: How to Think Like a Venture Capitalist

Praise from Jason Mendelson (auth. Venture Deals), "Patrick brings an educator's perspective and an entertainer's sensibilities to his overview of venture capital."
Venture Capital Strategy is an approachable but disciplined overview of venture capital written by a professional musician turned professor over a 15-year period of teaching venture capital and startup classes at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. The book is a one-stop shop for understanding venture capital, distilling lessons from hundreds of interactions with VCs and founders.
"A close reading of VCS will give even the first-time entrepreneur the tools they need to effectively seek and structure a financing round. Other books were either too simplified (not practically helpful in the real world of fundraising) or too technical (written in legalese, not the plain English required to really grasp the issues one needs to negotiate)."
Laura Roden, San Jose State Univ.
"Providing exposure to venture investing is really hard. I love Venture Capital Strategy because it weaves together a narrative around concepts and helps readers move from one area of analysis to another in an enjoyable manner."
Theresa Sedlack, Miami University of Ohio.
"Well organized, clearly articulated, this volume spans the gamut from beginner's overview to expert's guidebook."
Jerome Engel, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business
"Patrick lays out important concepts and insights in an easy to understand and digest form. As he clearly articulates in the book, the way that venture capitalists think is valuable to anyone in business."
John F. Clarke, Dean of Graduate Programs, Tulane University
Readers of the book will learn:

• A (very) brief history of venture capital
• The core competencies of successful VCs
• What VC’s are looking for in startups
• How venture capital differs from other forms of startup financing
• How the sharks on TV’s Shark Tank are corrupting venture capital
• The top two terms on any term sheet (and a few other key terms)
• How VCs often behave like music industry professionals
• How to think like a VC!