Venture Books . . .
treat many issues of interest to entrepreneurs.
Several of them deal with venture financing and are worth reviewing.
One of the best is Pratt’s Guide to Venture Capital Sources,
edited by Stanley E. Pratt and published by Venture Economics, Inc. It
contains a detailed listing of venture capital firms, the sizes of
their funds, the type of companies they invest in, and the names and
telephone numbers of their principals. The price is approximately
$400.
Other good books include the following titles. While
not all of them are easy to find, all are worth the effort. Try www.abebooks.com
for those that are out of print.
-
High Tech Start Up – The Complete How-To
Handbook for Creating Successful New High Tech Companies
by
John L. Nesheim (The Free Press 2000).
Informative and knowledgeable source for anyone considering
starting a high tech business.
-
Guide to Venture Investing Angels - Financing and
Investing in Private Companies
by Arthur Lipper III (MIC
1996). An investor’s perspective on the venture process is
discussed here in detail.
-
Innovation and Entrepreneurship – Practice and
Principles
by Peter F. Drucker (Harperbusiness 1993). One of
the classic texts on entrepreneurship.
-
Nothing Ventured – The Perils and Payoffs of the
Great American Venture Capital Game
by Robert J. Kunze (Harper
Business 1990). Out of print and hard to find but definitely worth
the effort. This book contains a venture capitalist’s summary of
the venture investing process and chronicles the stories of
several ‘portfolio companies’ from investment to exit.
-
Venture Capital Handbook
by David Gladstone (Prentice
Hall 1988). This guide for entrepreneurs is written by a
practicing venture capitalist.
-
Venture Capital Investing
by David Gladstone
(Prentice Hall 1990). This book for would-be investors discusses
the venture capitalist’s approach to investing in private
companies.
-
Zero Gravity – Riding Venture Capital from
High-Tech Start-Up to Breakout IPO
by Steve Harmon (Bloomberg
Press 1999). One man’s report on how to fund Internet companies
with numerous interviews with venture capitalists and successful
Internet entrepreneurs.
See: Business Plan,
NASBIC (National Association of
Small Business Investment Companies),
National Venture Capital
Association, Venture
Capitalists.
