Richard's References
As of 2022, this is a very dated (a decade old!) selection of references, opinions and comments on topics of interest to entrepreneurs thinking about starting a business and raising money from VCs. Multiple conflicting opinions are presented because there is no right answer. All these are worth reading - some more than others, but that's for you to decide! Disclaimer: these represent the opinions of their respective authors and not those of Richard Dale, nor of my employer.
Appetizers
A little whimsy: VC Truisms as seen on my twitter stream.
Starting Up
Founder Agreements
Beware of Boomerang Founders Syndrome
Packaging and presenting
10 steps to pitch a VC (A VC’s advice on how to pitch VCs)
Good Question! The Eight Best Questions We Got While Raising Venture Capital
Business plan templates from Score.org
What to send a VC
Presenting to VCs series from Mark Suster
Business Models
The SaaS Business Model from David Skok at Matrix
A Magic Number for SaaS Companies - how to decide if you should step on the gas
Angels and VCs
Interesting intro materials: LearnVC.
VCs don't sign NDAs
Talking Termsheets and Terms
VC Termsheet Series - from Brad Feld
Protecting yourself - from Brad Feld (plus a must-read follow-on)
Now we're cookin'
Can you outsource sales? from a sales recruiting firm.
Or we're not ... help!
RIP Good Times (the famous Sequoia Capital slide deck)
How to Handle the Downturn: Xconomy’s Top 9 List of Top 10 Lists
John Doerr: 10 ways for companies to stay afloat in rough times
Hiring (and firing)
Peggy Thompson of Summative recommends 96 Great Interview Questions to Ask Before You Hireby Paul Falcone.
Ben Casnocha shares the best reference check strategy ever
Board, not bored
Albert Wenger on boards
Brad Feld on boards
Exit ... pursued by a bull
Now you want to be a VC
And for the faint of heart ... (who don't want to start their own company or be a VC)
VentureCyclist Blog
This series of articles compares Venture Cycling to Venture Capital... the most recent article is added at the top of the list.