Insider's Guide to Venture Capital, 2002

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Summary: When $24 can become millions
Review: Apart from my business, this book is the best support I have in my quest of capital and I just wanted to share this secret to all entrepreneurs that are seeking capital.

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Summary: Excellent VC Contact Resource for Int'l Start - Up Companies
Review: I am the founder of a start-up company in Germany expanding to the U.S. Therefore we are seeking venture capital for setting up our operations in the Silicon Valley area within this year.

After reviewing most of the VC related literature the Insiders Guide was recommended to me. In contrast to other books, the Guide provided us with all the necessary VC contacts for a very affordable price ! The book is up to date and very well structured. The essays provide an interesting insight into the U.S. business habits.

The information from that book were incredibly helpful and accelerate our expansion to the west coast ! Thank you for that book and I am looking forward to the next edition with new VC contacts.

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Summary: Don't Call On a VC Until You've Read This Book!
Review: I've helped more than 20 technology companies raise more than $80 million in venture capital. And if you're an entrepreneur seeking institutional capital - you better have this book. You should read every article in the back, BEFORE you start seeking your financing.

This is the book that will put you on the path to developing your strategic plan to raise capital. Don't underestimate the process, or how much competition there is to get a VCs attention, let alone his or her money. Read the articles, develop your plan, then use the book to target venture firms that make sense for your particular business. Once you have that done, you can do your best to figure out a way to get the proper introductions.

This is the book to start you on the right path. If you can't afford to buy this book, don't expect to raise sophisticated capital.

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Summary: Comments from the Author
Review: My name is Dante Fichera and I'm the author of this book. I'm not only going to write a review of my book but also write about the history of why I committed four years of my life to this project.

Four years ago while I was working in public accounting as an auditor (mostly auditing VC funds), I frequently met entrepreneurs that did not know how or where to find venture capital. Since I knew who all the VCs in town were, I began compiling their profiles and contact information. I then prepared hundreds of 20-page pamphlets that were stapled together and handed them out at a local networking event in San Diego.

Within an hour all the pamphlets had been snatched up. Months later, I would see entrepreneurs walking around at various networking events with these same pamphlets, clinging on to each falling page.

That is when I set out to compile the most useful resource tool available to entrepreneurs anywhere. I not only compiled over 400 profiles of funds actively seeking investment opportunities, but I also recruited over 20 nationally recognized venture capitalist and business leaders to write essays providing insight for entrepreneurs.

No other book combines the industry knowledge with the most current contact information for prospecting venture capital.

Rating:
Summary: Comments from the Author
Review: My name is Dante Fichera and I'm the author of this book. I'm not only going to write a review of my book but also write about the history of why I committed four years of my life to this project.

Four years ago while I was working in public accounting as an auditor (mostly auditing VC funds), I frequently met entrepreneurs that did not know how or where to find venture capital. Since I knew who all the VCs in town were, I began compiling their profiles and contact information. I then prepared hundreds of 20-page pamphlets that were stapled together and handed them out at a local networking event in San Diego.

Within an hour all the pamphlets had been snatched up. Months later, I would see entrepreneurs walking around at various networking events with these same pamphlets, clinging on to each falling page.

That is when I set out to compile the most useful resource tool available to entrepreneurs anywhere. I not only compiled over 400 profiles of funds actively seeking investment opportunities, but I also recruited over 20 nationally recognized venture capitalist and business leaders to write essays providing insight for entrepreneurs.

No other book combines the industry knowledge with the most current contact information for prospecting venture capital.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent resource for VC's and Entrepreneurs
Review: Our venture capital firm was planning to spend $650 on the Pratt Guide to Venture Capital until I ran across this book. The Insiders Guide has in-depth info on every venture firm that I've heard of and is priced low enough to be purchased as a personal reference for anyone.

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Summary: great reference book
Review: The how to chapters in this book are very insightful and demonstrate that the variety of authors have clearly sat in venture discussions for funding as well as the daily operations of business. I state this from similiar first hand experiences.
If you are looking for a particular type of funding the indexed text of this book provides a base line level of research that you can use to identify the right funding sources for your offering, plan an approach, possibly an introduction and surely what the right message to deliver in your pitch.

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Summary: A must have resource!
Review: The Insider's Guide to Venture Capital is a must have resource! It is great to have the Venture Capitalists listed and written about; as well as having the chapters on very important topics! This book is very well organized! This book stands out way above other books on this topic.