Venture Management Handbook: An Entrepreneur's Practical Guide to Stock, Finance and Contracts [Paperback]

Cliff Conneighton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 20, 2002

The brand new, highly-acclaimed Venture Management Handbook tells an entrepreneur or the management team of any company how to raise money, avoid trouble and manage to profitability -- even in the post-crash, post-Enron economy. And at the end of the day, make sure there is something left for themselves.

Sample topics include:
• Valuations
• VC terms and preferences
• VC structure – exactly how they make money
• Business plans for you and for VCs
• Accounting 101 for a manager (not an accountant)
• Accurate sales forecasting
• What executives need to know about accounting
• Cash flow forecasting, management and reporting
• Deciding what to measure
• How to work with investment banks
• Protect your precious cash from crafty creditors
• Good vendor contract terms
• Convertible notes and bridge loans
• Borrowing on assets or receivables
• What to do when things start going bad
• Controlled bankruptcy and reorganization
• How to structure sales agreements to ensure you get paid
• How to choose the right lawyer – and get the most from them while paying the least
• Dividing the spoils in a merger or acquisition
• How to avoid employee lawsuits
• When can investors demand their money back?
• Options, warrants, ISOs, your personal income tax
• Revenue recognition – what Enron, Xerox and WorldCom did wrong -- how to stay out of trouble
• Avoid personal responsibility for the debts of your corporation -- if you're not careful, you may NOT have a corporate shield
• and much, much more

Editorial Reviews

Review

A superb job! A mandatory on my execs' desks! -- Ron Matros, serial CEO, iconverse, Open Market, FutureTense

Admission ticket to the mysterious world of venture capital, preferred stock, valuation, dilution, underwriting and more. A welcome new resource. -- Jim Johnston, President, Johnston Company CFO Services

Sound advice on the most important sales, purchasing and personnel issues everyone faces. Everything you need, nothing you don't. -- Beth Perdue, JD, President, Argosy, Inc.

From the Publisher

We liked this book because it is different. It is focused squarely on the issues that a start-up in a high-growth, highly competitive industry will face. And it is written in the context of today’s economy – post crash and post-Enron.

Venture Management Handbook has fiver sections. Here are some of the questions the book addresses:

Stocks and bonds: Do you know how much of your company VCs will want for their investment? What liquidation preferences are common? Or even what this means? How to avoid Uncle Sam demanding the founders and executives personally pay millions of dollars in taxes today on earnings you'll never see? How factoring receivables can improve your cash flow?

Financial Planning and Management: Do you know how to construct a cash flow forecast? Everything you need to know (but not too much) about accounting? How to forecast sales (hint: never ask the sales people to forecast sales). Do you know the revenue recognition rules that if violated may disqualify your company from ever getting financing, going public or selling out – the rules that got WorldCom in so much trouble?

Exits: Do you know the pros, cons, costs and process of going public? How the money will be split up in a merger or acquisition (you may get less than you think unless you plan carefully). What investment banks should do for you? What to do to give your company another chance and to protect yourself if things start going bad?

Contracts: Do you know the tricks to get slippery customers to pay their bills? How to avoid being held personally responsible for the debts of your corporation? How to avoid employee lawsuits?

Outside Help: Do you know how to select the right lawyer and the right banker, what to demand of them, and what you should never expect of them? How to prevent creditors from attaching your cash?

If you've answered yes to all these questions, congratulations! You can probably pass the bar exam and the CPA exam. If not, you should read this book.

Don't feel bad if you're not familiar with all of this. Why should you be? Most people starting a company, or joining a young company, come from backgrounds in engineering, sales or marketing -- then suddenly find themselves having to deal with a lot of unfamiliar questions. You can't afford to assume that the lawyers and CPAs will handle everything -- it is up to you to know the basics, what questions to ask, how to avoid trouble, and when to call in the experts. That's what this book equips you for.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Venturebooks (August 20, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972167102
• ISBN-13: 978-0972167109
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,143,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Precise information, exactly what an entrepreneur needs, September 11, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Venture Management Handbook: An Entrepreneur's Practical Guide to Stock, Finance and Contracts (Paperback)

I have read a few books on how to do startups, but no other book came close to explaining the concepts in as precise a manner as this book does. While other books talk about concepts like equity sharing and common and preferred shares in a general sense, this book gives exact definitions and examples.

The best book for an entrepreneur who dreams of raising money and taking his enterprise to places!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a venture book for the rest of us, February 4, 2003

By 

Donald I. Schwartz "dschwanh" (Londonderry, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Venture Management Handbook: An Entrepreneur's Practical Guide to Stock, Finance and Contracts (Paperback)

The rest of us not being financiers, accountants or lawyers!

I opened the book expecting another of the usual business help books. The ones that spend half the book telling you why you should read it and the second half trying to sell the next in the series.

This book is different. Venture Management Handbook gets right to the point on every subject and is entirely written for the totally uninformed yet driven entrepreneur. I'm only a quarter through, and with skipping to subjects I need now, I may not ever actually finish. But, who ever finishes a reference book, and Venture Management Handbook will surely find its way to the reference shelf of your local library.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Without a doubt, the best book on software startups, December 4, 2002

By 

peyton mcmanus (Durham, NH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Venture Management Handbook: An Entrepreneur's Practical Guide to Stock, Finance and Contracts (Paperback)

Thanks for taking the time to compile such a great resource. You've done a great job and I appreciate the honest, real world, advice. You cover all the things that I didn't learn in business school...and in a thoughtful, approachable style.

Without a doubt, the best book on software startups that I have ever encountered. Each chapter is immediately useful, practical, and concise.

Thanks for all of the help and for sharing your experience and thoughts. Super!

Peyton