Getting up to speed on venture
THE book:
I recommend a quick skim then a deep read. Spend some time getting up to speed via other methods in between: Venture Deals by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson. There are other interesting books, but none as necessary as this one to understand the mechanics of venture investing.
Newsletters:
Newsletters are good for keeping current on the venture industry and new technologies. They’re also a good way to learn where your blind spots are. If you are reading about a concept or topic that you don’t understand, dig in!
These are the newsletters that I read daily:
Pro Rata – Dan Primack has been writing about PE/VC since before I knew what PE/VC was
Term Sheet – Fortune’s daily PE/VC newsletter
I read these newsletters occasionally. Most of them arrive later in the day and may include repetitive information:
AmericanInno – good for local news in second and third tier markets (e.g. not SF, NYC, Boston)
Pitchbook – ok newsletters but great quarterly and ad hoc reports on the industry
I’ve since unsubscribed from these newsletters but at one time found them useful:
Strictly VC – similar in format as Pro Rata and Term Sheet, but fewer days with meaningful content
CB Insights – interesting and humorous with a focus on data
Mattermark – a daily inventory of blog posts. Not relevant once you get the hang of things but a good starting point. Mattermark published “The Beginner’s Guide to VC” that includes links to articles, books, podcasts and the like that is more comprehensive than this one.
Blogs:
Some are meaty and infrequent, others are short, sweet, and may or may not be relevant. But I’m a subscriber (also worth following these folks on twitter)
SaaStr – Jason Lemkin at SaaStr fund (tactical)
A VC – Fred Wilson at Union Square Ventures (opinion)
Both Sides of the Table – Mark Suster at Upfront Ventures (tactical)
Tomasz Tunguz – Tomasz Tungux at Redpoint (data-based VC industry trends)
FeldThoughts – Brand Feld at Foundry Group (opinion) + Everyone at Foundry Group
Above the Crowd – Bill Gurley at Benchmark Capital (tactical and industry trends)
Hunter Walk – Hunter Walk at Homebrew (observations)
Yet Another (ex-)VC – again, another aggregation site. But, its 100% focused on developing skills and the network to get into VC
I work with Tim and Guy and genuinely enjoy their writings:
VC with me – Guy Turner at Hyde Park Venture Partners (tactical and trends)
CMO to VC – Tim Kopp at Hyde Park Venture Partners (tactical, leadership and marketing focused)
Podcasts:
There are a lot of podcasts as well, but I don’t listen to them regularly. There are a few well-known ones that involve interviewing VCs:
The Full Rachet – hosted by Nick Moran at New Stack Ventures
The Twenty Minute VC – hosted by Harry Stebbings
Origins – A podcast about Limited Partners, created by Notation Capital
Let me know… am I missing anything?
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