Venture Capital 101 - Kauffman Fellows

If you want to learn how to be a successful venture capitalist or how to raise venture capital for your startup, you’ll want to know how a venture capitalist thinks and makes investment decisions. This online course on venture capital covers both the mechanics of venture capital investment and the important role investors play in shaping the culture of successful startups. Founder-VC mismatches or culture clashes are silent killers of both startups and innovation.

Venture Capital 101 is based on the most respected private training program for aspiring venture capitalists, the Kauffman Fellows Program. This online course on venture capital covers both the mechanics of venture capital investment and the important role investors play in shaping the culture of successful startups.

In addition to professionals wanting to enter the venture capital field, entrepreneurs looking to raise venture capital funding, this course is also for anyone who works with the venture community, including lawyers, accountants, angel investors, bankers, policy makers, regulators and educators.

How Does Venture Capital Work?

This class includes such topics as: how VCs create a focus (an investment thesis), source deals, perform due diligence, make investment decisions, negotiate term sheets, serve on boards, and manage a venture capital firm.

After completing this course, you will understand how investors:

1. find great entrepreneurs by first creating an investment thesis (a focus) and then generating deal flow (finding startups to consider investing in)

1. conduct due diligence on a startup, particularly the potential market, the product, the team, and financial risks

1. structure financings using term sheets, capitalization tables, and syndication, all with the goal of minimizing risks and creating effective managerial incentives

1. work with entrepreneurs to build teams, create scalable business models, and design successful cultures

1. contribute on a startup’s board of directors

1. exit through IPOs and trade sales

1. and, manage the economics of a venture capital firm.

Workload: 6-8 hours / week
Statement of Accomplishment: Subject to satisfactory performance and course completion, you will receive a statement of accomplishment signed by the instructor.

Syllabus

Week 1: The Science of Capital Formation

Week 2: Building your venture team
- Activity: build your venture team from members of the class
- Activity: create an investment thesis with your team

Week 3: Sourcing
- Activity: identify promising startups with your team that align with your investment thesis

Week 4: Due diligence & decision making
- Learn how to evaluate a startups market, team, technology, and business model risks
- Learn how venture capitalists ultimately make investment decisions
- Activity: apply this learning to one of your sourced startups

Week 5: Term Sheets and Capitalization Tables
- Learn the basic terms of a venture financing and their obvious and non obvious long term implications
- Learn how to interpret a capitalization table and appreciate how stock ownership is diluted over time
- Activity: create a capitalization table for one of your sourced companies or for the class case study.

Week 6: Startup Boards
- Learn how effective startup boards work and how to be an effective startup board member.
- Activity: create a board for one of your sourced companies or for the class case study.

Week 7: Supporting entrepreneurs
- Overview of how investors can support entrepreneurs from building good legal and financial practices to hiring and building a culture.

Week 8: Managing an innovation investment business
- Overview of how venture capitalists make money and manage their business from the typical fee and carry business model to building personal brands.
Activity: design your venture business

This online class will be team oriented and practice based. Vidoes and readings cover venture investment best practices. However, much of your learning will take place as you work with your virtual team to create a venture investment group and apply these best practices to case studies and real startups.

Workload: 6-8 hours / week
Statement of Accomplishment: Subject to satisfactory performance and course completion, you will receive a statement of accomplishment signed by the instructor.

…More »

This online class will be team oriented and practice based. Vidoes and readings cover venture investment best practices. However, much of your learning will take place as you work with your virtual team to create a venture investment group and apply these best practices to case studies and real startups.

Workload: 6-8 hours / week
Statement of Accomplishment: Subject to satisfactory performance and course completion, you will receive a statement of accomplishment signed by the instructor.

Syllabus

Week 1: The Science of Capital Formation

Week 2: Building your venture team
- Activity: build your venture team from members of the class
- Activity: create an investment thesis with your team

Week 3: Sourcing
- Activity: identify promising startups with your team that align with your investment thesis

Week 4: Due diligence & decision making
- Learn how to evaluate a startups market, team, technology, and business model risks
- Learn how venture capitalists ultimately make investment decisions
- Activity: apply this learning to one of your sourced startups

Week 5: Term Sheets and Capitalization Tables
- Learn the basic terms of a venture financing and their obvious and non obvious long term implications
- Learn how to interpret a capitalization table and appreciate how stock ownership is diluted over time
- Activity: create a capitalization table for one of your sourced companies or for the class case study.

Week 6: Startup Boards
- Learn how effective startup boards work and how to be an effective startup board member.
- Activity: create a board for one of your sourced companies or for the class case study.

Week 7: Supporting entrepreneurs
- Overview of how investors can support entrepreneurs from building good legal and financial practices to hiring and building a culture.

Week 8: Managing an innovation investment business
- Overview of how venture capitalists make money and manage their business from the typical fee and carry business model to building personal brands.
Activity: design your venture business