The venture capital world is often intimidating and hard to navigate, even for the most seasoned entrepreneurs. But it doesn’t have to be. Entrepreneurs who run effective fundraising processes don’t do it by accident. With this book, you’ll learn what it takes to successfully raise a round of funding for your company. Author Katherine Hague explains how the venture capital industry works, and walks you through each step necessary to plan, execute, and optimize your own fundraising round. Packed full of exercises, checklists, and templates, this book guides you through the process from start to finish. It’s ideal for entrepreneurs raising later rounds of capital, as well as those just starting out. Gain an understanding of core venture capital concepts and standards Learn how to develop and hone an investor pitch Come away with a plan to hit the fundraising trail for your company Develop the confidence you need to negotiate key terms in a funding deal Understand best practices in fundraising, and learn how to avoid the top 10 fundraising mistakes

From a TechCrunch founder and award-winning strategist comes the most comprehensive guide to the newest fundraising options for today’s entrepreneurs. Fundraising for startups has changed dramatically in the past decade. There was a time when VCs were rock stars and a founder with a big idea and a little drive could raise a few hundred thousand dollars to build a business. But those days are gone. In the aftermath of the Great Recession and a massive drop in tech investments, it’s become harder and harder for founders to raise money. The good news? Today’s entrepreneurs have more options than ever before—with greater opportunities to get the ball rolling, get investors excited, and Get Funded! A comprehensive, cutting-edge guide from tech journalist and entrepreneur John Biggs and communication strategist Eric Villines, Get Funded! will enable you to: Create a solid business plan and a powerful story that investors respond to Explore a wide range of funding options—and find the ones that are right for you Understand valuation and dilution Plan, prepare, and deliver the perfect pitch Raise money through grants, micro-loans, micro-donations, and crowdfunding Take advantage of the latest online resources and financial tools Filled with step-by-step strategies, ready-to-use resources, and on-the-ground insights, this is a must-read for every entrepreneur. Even if you’ve started a business before, you’ll discover a whole new funding landscape with exciting tech-driven models―including crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe and Patreon, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, IEOs (Initial Exchange Offerings), micro-loans, and micro-donations―as well as more traditional, tried-and-true methods. Beyond a road map to the current world of funding, Get Funded! provides proven strategies for pitching, marketing, bootstrapping, and more. It’s a complete 360-degree tool with easy-to-follow worksheets and online resources that will help you build a sustainable funding strategy that’s right for your business—and crucial to your success. Whether you’re starting a food truck or a biotech startup, Get Funded! has got you covered.

Like a detailed trail map through the jungle of finance, this book guides readers past small-business financial pitfalls, showing readers how to fine-tune operations and enhance profitability. Easy to read and full of engaging stories, this book teaches the basics of true financial management—re-made just for small businesses. It's perfect for entrepreneurs who want to get more from their accounting without getting stuck in the details. The author examines each of the three major financial statements and explains both how and why business owners should utilize these powerful tools to create a more stable, more profitable business. Whether one's business has one employee or 100, the small business owner will gain a deeper understanding of why finance is so critical to survival and growth. Written by an experienced CFO and entrepreneur, The Entrepreneur's Guide to Financial Statements uses illustrations, real-life stories, and crystal-clear writing to show business owners the importance of "the numbers" and the critical nature of finance to the survival, profitability, and growth of their small businesses.

The authors of this book are successful serial entrepreneurs having used many of the resources in this book to fund, leverage, grow and sell their businesses in the past. They have taken their years of experience and research and made it an easy resource guide to address the #1 problem most entrepreneurs face...MONEY!

An accessible guide to handling the unforeseeable consequences of becoming an entrepreneur in today and tomorrow's economy The spirit of an entrepreneur is often characterized as one of unbridled passion and a sense of fearlessness. But what about the consequences of choosing to become an entrepreneur? The occupational hazards associated with this endeavor range from maintaining focus, balancing work with your personal life, and finding good partners to burnout and boredom. Despite the abundance of entrepreneurial guides written, few focus on the essential aspect of dealing with the unexpected personal and professional costs of starting and financing a business. This new book will help you answer these tough questions. Engaging and informative, this book skillfully examines what usually goes wrong on the road to entrepreneurship, revealing what business owners regret and what you can do to address these issues. Along the way, it provides an overview of the personality traits and qualities that make success in entrepreneurship more likely, and also explores how the weight of wearing the entrepreneurial hat can affect you. Covers the seven principal obstacles that can arise at any level in the entrepreneurial game Filled with the valuable insights of an author who has experience as an entrepreneur and as a corporate attorney representing hundreds of entrepreneurs over his twenty-six year legal career Touches on issues associated with everything from the nerve-wrecking start-up phase to the disenchanted later stages when success does not necessarily guarantee personal or professional contentment If you're looking for a better way to manage and minimize some of the most prominent problems you'll face as an entrepreneur, look no further than this book.

The Fintech Entrepreneur’s Guide to Regulation and Regulatory Strategy Fintech has been growing dramatically over the last few years, and it is now an important sector in its own right. This means that Fintech companies, who could so far often rely on a comparatively lenient regulatory regime, will now have to give serious thoughts on compliance with applicable regulatory rules. Operating in a highly regulated environment is tedious, but not all bad—companies that can play the regulatory game well have a strategic advantage, especially with regard to time-to-market and scaling. Nothing spells missed opportunity like a competitor building market share with a copycat product whilst you are still waiting for your license! Written for professionals, this book helps anyone whose job has to do with formulating or executing a Fintech startup strategy or whose job touches financial services regulation, or anyone who simply wants an easy- to-read introduction to financial services and their regulation. Describes the purpose of and principle behind modern financial services regulation Explains how to include regulation into a startup’s strategic planning to optimize time-to-market and scaling Gives an overview of the entire financial services space, and which regulations apply where Gives detailed references to 20 key regulations in the EU regulatory system, including PSD, GDPR, CRD, AMLD, MiFID, UCITSD, AIFMD The first part introduces financial services regulation, its purpose, how it is created (especially in the EU and in the US), and it develops a framework for including regulations into the strategic planning of a company. It also gives a rundown of the current financial services space—players and products—and its key regulations. The second part describes a regulatory system in more detail. The system chosen is the EU because it is more consistent and unified than the US system where a lot of the regulation still is created at the state-level. However, as most financial regulation nowadays is determined at the global level, the principles found in EU regulation will be by and large also be found the US and other systems.

This book provides what it promises to the reader, i.e. A financial guide for social entrepreneurs. It departs from the challenges that social entrepreneurs face to fund their ventures. We discuss three main challenges in this context: 1. Access to funding; 2. Complexity of business models; 3. Predominant focus on social impact. This book offers an overview of the different funding possibilities while presenting the main funding actors in Belgium as an illustration. Yet, we think that more is needed to survive the financial wilderness of social entrepreneurship. Therefore, we advise attention to a solid business model, supportive ecosystem, impact measurement and effective communication. The illustrative case studies and the presentation of ecosystem actors that can provide support to social entrepreneurs make this book a quite practical guide. All cases and ecosystem actors presented here come from the Belgian context, which is what we know best. We are confident that this Belgian view can inspire the international community as well. This book could be useful to social entrepreneurs, impact investors, universities, vocational training centers, corporates supporting social entrepreneurs, social impact incubators and accelerators, policymakers or everyone who wants to help a social enterprise in their journey. And please enjoy reading, our societies need more social entrepreneurship! ABOUT THE AUTORS Nikolay Detchev. Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility at VUB, Belgium. He holds the Solvay Business School Chair of Social Entrepreneurship at VUB, with founding partners Close the Gap, BNP Paribas Fortis and Euroclear. Nikolay is a member of the Investment Committee of Trividend, an executive board member of the International Association for Business and Society and the International New Business Model Conference Series, and board of directors member at VUB related incubator ICAB nv. Philippe Eiselein a PhD Candidate and Research Assistant at the Department of Business at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). He is preparing his doctoral dissertation on the Business Models and Scalability of Social Entrepreneurship. His ongoing research has been presented over several international conferences. He has been actively supporting the VUB Chair of Social Entrepreneurship since its inception, contributing to several international projects and events, while coaching (social) entrepreneurs coaches and acting as the Chair’s webmaster. Kris Vander Velpen holds an MBA from Cornell University and a Business Engineer degree in Computer Data Processing as well as a Bachelor in Thomistic Philosophy from the KU Leuven. Kris is now an independent consultant, building and implementing tailor-made top-line growth practices within major profit and non-profit organisations. Furthermore, he is Professor “Entrepreneurship and Innovation” at Flanders Business School and a Visiting Professor at KU Leuven. Maxime Bouckaert studied business and applied economics at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Shortly afterwards, he launched a company called ‘Koalect’. This company helps organizations create more impact through fundraising, crowdfunding and crowdsourcing. He has a team of fourteen people that currently support over 120 organizations to engage with their community in a better way. Abel Diaz Gonzales a PhD Candidate and Research Assistant at the Department of Business at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). For his doctoral dissertation, Abel has conducted field research in Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, and Belgium. His research has been presented at different international conferences (among which are the Academy of Management, IABS, EMES and New Business Models). Abel has acted as a reviewer at various conferences and for journals, and as co-organizer of numerous events.