What VCs look for, how their funds make money, and the numbers they run before they back a tech startup. Know the model, then decide whether it fits yours.
A VC is not investing their own money. They manage a fund for other investors, have about ten years to return it, and rely on one or two big winners to do so. Everything else follows from that. Start with the first guide, or jump to the tools.
Where VC money comes from, how the partners are paid, and why a ten-year fund shapes every decision they make about your tech startup.
Read the guide →2Most venture investments lose money. The fund is saved by one or two outliers, so every new deal is judged on whether it could be that outlier.
Read the guide →3The questions behind every investment decision, and the evidence that answers them at each stage of a tech startup.
Read the guide →4Early-stage valuations are worked backwards from a future exit and the return the investor needs. Here is the maths, so you can test your own price.
Read the guide →5The headline valuation is only one line. These are the terms that decide who gets what on exit, and who controls the company until then.
Read the guide →6What gets checked between a term sheet and the money arriving, and how to prepare so it takes weeks, not months.
Read the guide →7Who invests at which stage, what each type of investor wants, and how SEIS, EIS and government-backed funds shape early-stage investment in the UK.
Read the guide →8VC suits some tech startups very well and others not at all. How to decide, and the alternatives worth considering.
Read the guide →The calculators investors use to judge a deal, so you can see your tech startup the way they do before you pitch.
The exit your company would need for one investment to return a whole VC fund, and which fund sizes suit your likely exit.
Open tool →Investor viewNewPlay a fund of 30 tech startups and see how one or two outliers carry the rest.
Open tool →Investor viewNewWork back from a future exit to the most a VC can pay today, and test your asking price.
Open tool →Investor viewWho gets what on exit once preferences are applied.
Open tool →Investor viewFounder, option pool and investor ownership after each round.
Open tool →Investor viewWhat your company could be worth, and what you would take home.
Open tool →Join tech founders who put execution before investment.