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Ask HN: Are there any “Startup Funding for Dummies” resources?
We hear so much about various companies raising a round, exiting, attracting angel/VC attention, etc., but for those of us who have not done it before, it feels like there are a lot of knowledge gaps and potential pitfalls.
Has anyone seen or compiled a good list of resources that help business owners (specifically startups) learn about and more fully understand what it means to find, accept, and use investment funding? I'm thinking about the questions that don't often get answered such as, "How much equity do you usually exchange?" or "What happens in a failure case and you don't exit to megamillion $$$ IPOs (or it just doesn't make as much money)?"
Book recommendations, blogs, online guides, etc. would be much appreciated. I'm sure the tribal knowledge is strong on this one.
- brudgers 11y agoThere's Sam Altman's Startup Playbook. That would be my recommended starting point. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10514729 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10514729 On the other hand, worrying about what happens at IPO is premature optimization until well down the road from raising money. That said, selecting good investors is a good idea. By "good investors" I specifically mean investors with a good track record investing in Silicon Valley style startups. This implies that "startup" carries the specific meaning it has in Silicon Valley and not the every-new-business-is-a-startup meaning that it carries among entrepreneurs and investors just about everywhere else. Lastly, there's also Graham's Before the Startup. I'd recommend that based on the implications of "Startup's for Dummy's" in regard to "playing house." Good luck.
- brudgers 11y agoAfter I wrote that comment, I came across this: https://steveblank.com/2016/03/16/what-founders-need-to-know-you-were-funded-for-a-liquidity-event-start-looking/ https://steveblank.com/2016/03/16/what-founders-need-to-know...