One of my professors in law school wrote some great papers about the structure of venture capital deals. What each party is searching for, how they structure th

One of my professors in law school wrote some great papers about the structure of venture capital deals. What each party is searching for, how they structure the legal documents to protect them, etc. The answer to your question about what to expect is that you negotiate the deal, so you get what you can, and give up what you have to. His papers deal with the nitty gritty, and are kind of nerdy, but you'll learn a ton of how things actually work. You can download them here. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=17693 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1769... I recommend the first two in the list, The Exit Structure of Venture Capital, and How Early Stage Entrepreneurs Evaluate Venture Capitalists. That said, while thats how funding actually works, the work of getting funding all takes place before an agreement is signed.