Mastering the VC Game: A Venture Capital Insider Reveals How to Get from Start-up to IPO on Your Terms

A great, quick read. Seems comprehensive and clearly describes the processes and mindset of VCs and entrepreneurs. It was published 14 years ago - I wonder what the most important changes have been in the intervening years.

Finally a good book that talks plain English and explains the capaital raising process in simple terms. It was a very easy read and I could not keep the book down. i would recommend this as the first book to get your feet wet on the whole capital raising process and then read other books that get more technical about the deal flow itself. The simple and candid advice to entreprenuers is very valuable, particularly for someone like me who is thinking about a first time dive into my own business.

I purchased Mastering the VC Game after Fred Wilson blogged about it at [...]. I thought the book was entertaining and well-written. Having followed vc blogs for quite some time now, I can't say that there was a lot of new information in the book, but I did think that it brought clarity to some issues that I didn't completely understand.For example, in valuation there is a common misconception that the higher the valuation, the better the deal is for the management team. The problem is that entrepreneurs often forget to factor in the size of the option pool set aside for future employees. To account for this, Bussgang introduces a metric called the `promote', which is the (founding team's ownership percentage)*(post money valuation). Even though the book's explanation is nearly identical to the explanation on Bussgang's blog a year ago, it made so much more sense this time.The reason for this newfound clarity is that the book introduces topics in a natural way. Bloggers often have trouble doing this and can seem random and haphazard. So when the `promote' is explained in the context of an entire chapter about valuation, suddenly it makes sense.Another reason I was able to appreciate the nuances in the book is that I've been following vc/entrepreneurship blogs obsessively for two years now. What I most appreciate is that the book was able to touch upon so many pieces of information that I had to internalize bit-by-bit over two years. In just a few hours, you can get a broad overview of vc, dive into interesting stories, and get surprisingly detailed information that isn't widely available except in blog posts.This immediately reminded me of Rework by the guys at 37signals. I was really disappointed by that book and thought it was a waste of time. It was incredibly repetitive and at some points I felt like I was re-reading a combination of the 37signals blog and Getting Real. Bussgang's book is still derived from blog posts, but rather than being a rehash, it brings clarity to a scattered body of knowledge. If you're interested at all in vc/entrepreneurship, and especially if you're new to blogging, I highly recommend the book.

"Mastering the VC Game" is a must-read for any entrepreneur looking to start an Innovation-Driven Enterprise (IDE). Jeff Bussgang does an excellent job of providing a glimpse behind the curtain for how Venture Capitalists think and act. Because Jeff is both an entrepreneur and a VC, he is able to provide practical and actionable advice for entrepreneurs looking to get VC funding.My favorite thing about this book is how Jeff provides real-life anecdotes, from successful entrepreneurs and VCs, in order to make the information approachable and engaging. If you’re looking for a theoretical book about Venture Capitalists, this is not your book. Instead, "Mastering the VC Game" will get you thinking about how you would have acted if you were the protagonist. More than once you’ll find yourself thinking “What would I do in that scenario?”Another benefit of this book is the fact that Jeff references different firms and VC’s by name. He tells you which firms are known for what types of investments, and what makes a particular partner tick. For any budding entrepreneur, this is a gold mine.From Chapter 1, “The Entrepreneurial Itch” to Chapter 6 “Cashing Out”, the book flows in a manner that should get any entrepreneur thinking about the stages of their own startup journey. For this reason, "Mastering the VC Game" is more of a workbook than just another business book. I’ll be keeping it in the top drawer of my desk when I go to launch my startup.

I know little bit about this topic from before so that is said. It was many stories about sucessfull exits and startups, but I would like to include more investments stories. It was a couple of stories about exit and IPO's but very little insights. The topic about how VC makes money was very detailed and good, but I would like to now more about startups strategy for foundraising and more insights about how to master the VC game. The book covers many topic that are common for startups the elevator pitch etc, but only 30% of the book was really about the VC game. Therefor I only gave it 3 stars. With such a massive network from startups and VC I would expected more insights in VC game. The book had few pages and took very short time to read.

I bought this book thinking it would be more like a 'how-to' 'step-by-step' but it was more a biography of the big kahuna's in the VC world. Mr. Bussgang interviewed several of them and basically added tid-bits in along with their stories.Overall its a good read and helpful in seeing into the mind of how VC investors think and what they are looking for. It was also very informative on how the VC crew get along with and how relationships are made or busted with the CEOs of the start-up companies.I gave the book four stars only because it wasn't filled with more 'how-to' content. That being said, I still recommend this book. Hope this helps.