Name: Jb's review of Secrets of Sand Hill Road by Scott Kupor
Item: Secrets of Sand Hill Road
Rating: 2
Author: Jb

Scott Kupor

'Worth far more than its cover price ... I wish I’d had it available to me when I was first looking for startup funding' -- Eric Rees Every startup needs capital, and ambitious startups seek it on Sand Hill Road – Silicon Valley’s dream street for entrepreneurs. That’s where you’ll find the biggest names in venture capital, including the famed VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, where lawyer-turned-entrepreneur-turned-VC Scott Kupor serves as managing partner. Whether you’re trying to get a new company off the ground or scale an existing business to the next level, you need to understand how VCs think. Secrets of Sand Hill Road is the first book that shows you exactly how VCs decide where and how much to invest. It will help you get the best possible deal and make the most of your relationships with VCs. You’ll learn, for instance: -- Why most VCs typically invest in only one startup in a given business category -- Why the talent you need most when raising venture capital is your storytelling ability -- How to handle a 'down round', when you have to raise funds at a lower valuation than in your previous round -- Why bridge financing (reopening your last round to existing investors) is generally a bad idea -- What to do when VCs get too entangled in the day-to-day operations of your business -- Why you need to build relationships with potential acquirers long before you decide to sell Filled with Kupor’s firsthand experiences, insider advice, and practical takeaways, Secrets of Sand Hill Road is the guide you need to turn yourstartup into the next unicorn.

Venture Capital—and How to Get It

Secrets of Sand Hill Road

david

"Venture capitalist Scott Kupor explains what start-up entrepreneurs need to know about venture capital. He answers such questions as who gets a pitch meeting and who doesn't, and which metrics should you stress in a presentation, and which should you ignore. Includes a sample Term Sheet"--

Venture Capital and How to Get It

Nothing "secret" here, all stuff you can find on the internet for free.

linda

I finally finished, but it probably took me four months lol. And overall, I think it is worth for the explanation of the term sheet alone (like what a lot of other reviews have said). It definitely reads more like “Basics of Sand Hill Road” rather than “Secrets of Sand Hill Road.”

There were two details that I really loved: 
- Kupor defaults to the female pronoun (she/her) for all of his descriptions of venture capitalists and founders/CEOs. It was a small gesture, but I appreciated it so much. Grateful that he has three daughters and kept them in mind when he was writing this book. 
- Kupor’s legal background; I loved reading about things like entire fairness (evaluation of fair process and fair price) for board members under the Business Judgement Rule. I also loved reading about In Re Trados, Carsanaro v. Bloodhound Technologies, and Revlon, Inc. v. MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, Inc. I’ve also heard about mergers and acquisitions from afar, but Kupor brought them to life. I’m definitely still super confused career wise, but I think it might be pretty interesting to be a startup lawyer. 

I digress, but I feel that there is a lot of unnecessary antagonism toward the finance industry. Investment bankers play such a key role in underwriting IPOs. They work directly with institutional investors, create an orderly trading environment, and work post-IPO to help with M&A advice, follow up financings, debt issuances, and other capital markets issues. I felt the same way after reading Stephen Schwarzman’s autobiography. Leveraged buyouts can help revitalize companies, leading to increased efficiency for the company and returns for the investor. I know I’m being brainwashed, so I might as well as read Barbarians at the Gate to get rid of my rose-tinted glasses.

Donald

What is venture capital? What's going on with finance in general? Finance: that mystery underlying and shaping so much of our world, opaque, endless, a swarm of incongruities.

Enter Scott Kupor, managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz, the most prominent Silicon Valley VC fund. Ignore the click-bait title. This is not a book about secrets and tricks; it's a clear-headed account of venture capital from an insider, with a general overview of other financial asset classes (hedge funds, etc) thrown in for good measure. (Dante writes in De Monarchia of "veritates occultas et utiles;" this book offers only veritates utiles.) Kupor has a legal background, so he walks you through a term sheet section by section and talks through major cases concerning corporate governance. There's even a complete sample term sheet as an appendix. Before reading this book I knew next to nothing about any of this stuff; it turns out it's really interesting!

I would like to read a book like this but about investment banking or hedge funds. If you know of such a book, please do recommend it to me.

david &
Secrets of Sand Hill Road by Scott Kupor

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Secrets of Sand Hill Road by Scott Kupor