Last night, I was a guest of the Silicon Flatirons to present a "crash course" on venture capital. Basically, it was a no holds barred town hall-type conversation where I led off with a brief presentation and then opened it up to the 200 or so attendees to ask questions. I encouraged the audience to ask anything they wanted about venture capital, getting funded and "secrets" of the VC ecosystem.

The event was videotaped and hopefully soon, I’ll be able to post it on this blog. Until then, here was the presentation that I gave.

I enjoyed immensely hanging out with a lot of smart people interested in venture capital. Thanks to all who attended.

View more presentations from rosscarlson.

February 25th, 2009 Categories: Education, Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

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Thanks for sharing this, Jason. Particularly liked the 'What VC's wont tell you' section, very useful. Looking forward to the follow-up including the video. Thanks!
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That's brilliant! Bookmarked and much appreciated. Tks
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Thanks for sharing, excellent stuff. look forward to the video
Megan Dietmeier

Jason, linked to you thru Dan Caruso's blog http://www.bearonbusiness.com. Enjoyed reviewing your deck and would love to see the video when available. As a sales exec at a local VC backed tech company – very helpful to better understand the VC funding process. Particularly the early/late stage perspective.
Pingback: Crash Course Video | Mendelson's Musings
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Jason, I am confused about the whole NDA issue. Why is it a rookie mistake to ask for them to sign an NDA? Especially for an idea that most certainly needs to be protected. Is it an integrity issue? Where is the liability if they steal the idea or some associate tells the wrong person?
http://intensedebate.com/people/jason4307 Jason Mendelson

http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2006/02/why-most-… />
This might answer your question. Bottom line, we look at way too many business plans to start signing NDAs. As for stealing the idea, VCs really can’t steal ideas. First, they aren’t company runners, they are company investors. I would have to steal the idea and then start a whole new company. Second, our reputations are way too valuable to do any bad acts like this.
http://intensedebate.com/people/jason4307 Jason Mendelson

http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2006/02/why-most-… />
This might answer your question. Bottom line, we look at way too many business plans to start signing NDAs. As for stealing the idea, VCs really can’t steal ideas. First, they aren’t company runners, they are company investors. I would have to steal the idea and then start a whole new company. Second, our reputations are way too valuable to do any bad acts like this.
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Useful info for me.thanks for sharing.Jason.Do u have another blog?It seems I have seen you in some elso.
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Useful info for me.thanks for sharing.Jason.Do u have another blog?It seems I have seen you in some elso.
- http://intensedebate.com/people/jason4307 Jason Mendelson
  
  http://www.askthevc.com
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Hey,Jason.I come here from askthevc.Both of your blogs are good enough.I will enjoy them so much.
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how the hell does a guy who comes from nowhere acquire a team???
- http://intensedebate.com/people/jason4307 Jason Mendelson
  
  Not easy. There are not magic pills for creating and developing a team. Best bet is getting heavily involved in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in your area and seeing who is out there.
  - http://intensedebate.com/people/jasonspalace jasonspalace
    
    i appreciate the response Jason, would love to see a post on this. personally i am a guy who spent 3 years alone in a room with several computers learning everything there is to know about internet, electronic devices, and all the possibilities for its future. now out of that, with several schematics in the brain, putting together the exec summary, biz plan, prototype, etc, find myself with no network. and when you work 14 hours a day getting your dream together, its hard to do anything aside from building your tech . thank you for your brain on the screen. i must figure out the one element i see that you see as a necessity… a team and a network.
    
    - jason nadaf
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Particularly liked the 'What VC's wont tell you' section, very useful. Looking forward to the follow-up including the video.
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Everything from what makes VCs tick, who are our bosses, what are things that you can do to improve your chances of receiving funding and things that many VCs don’t want to talk about. No question is off limits and I hope that it will be a very interactive forum. Consider this to be a live version of Ask The VC.
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Do you need a crash course in how to find venture capital funding for your company? Or perhaps just a refresher course? The deck below was prepared by Jason Mendelson, a VC with the Foundry Group and Mobius Venture Capital.
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Another find via a venture capitalist blog. This time its Jason Mendelson’s Blog. This course provides a quick intro to venture capital and background on deal making and typical fund structures.
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This course provides a quick intro to venture capital and background on deal making and typical fund structures. VC Crash Course.
Do you need a crash course in how to find venture capital funding for your company? Or perhaps just a refresher course?
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Last night Jason Mendelson of the Foundry Group taught a great crash course on venture capital dispelling many and revealing many of the "secrets" of venture capitalists. After the course, Jason answered an hour or more of good questions from the audience.
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The deck below was prepared by Jason Mendelson, a VC with the Foundry Group and Mobius Venture Capital. It provides a good succinct primer on venture capital and echoes many of the themes on this blog.
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Venture capital (also known as VC or Venture) is a type of private equity capital typically provided to early-stage, high-potential, growth companies in the interest of generating a return through an eventual realization event such as an IPO or trade sale of the company. Venture capital investments are generally made as cash in exchange for shares in the invested company. It is typical for venture capital investors to identify and back companies in high technology industries such as biotechnology and ICT
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Eclipselink is Eclipse Persistence Services Project, version 1.0 was released July 9, 2008. See http://www.eclipse.org/eclipselink/ I won’t go into the history and general explanations. For some background on Eclipelink see http://eclipse.dzone.com/articles/introducing-ecl… I will say that Eclipselink based on 12 years of commercial usage as Oracles’s Toplink product. Eclipselink is mature and solid.
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I greatly appreciate all the info I've read here. I will spread the word about your blog to other people. Cheers.
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  Thank you!
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Searched Google and found your blog. I like it. Keep up the good work.
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Great tutorial a few things I did not know.
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Jason, great post! It's really just like marketing and target markets. If you know you're target market (in this case the VC), you'll do much better at obtaining financing.

Thanks for sharing,
Gerrid Smith
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Thanks for the crash course on venture capital. Enjoyed the video a lot!
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I like the slide that is about what makes VC tick- very well written and easy to follow
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the slide on what makes VC tick is excellent.
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There are different interests and importances among stakeholders that cause the carsh of capital use and need. The issue can be really big in giant corporations. Thank you.
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Capital is a scarce object in economy, yet everyone needs it. There are conflicts of interest which are just inevitable. By the way, have you ever heard of RealtyNation.com? I heard it’s a great place to look for Rent To Own House but you never know about sites like this. Please help me with this. I need a credible reference. Thanks!
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We can not avoid such conflicts of interest in companies. The issues can even grow bigger for corporates which have many stakeholders with different demands.
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Venture capitalism in itself is a very complex situation and is needed as for a number of applicable conditions for finance and economy.
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Venture capital (also known as VC or Venture) is a type of private equity capital typically provided for early-stage, high-potential, growth companies in the interest of generating a return through an eventual realization event such as an IPO or trade sale of the company. Venture capital investments are generally made as cash in exchange for shares in the invested company. It is typical for venture capital investors to identify and back companies in high technology industries such as biotechnology and ICT (information and communication technology).
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Thanks for this, I am an aspiring venture capitalist! I would love to invest in aspiring entrepreneurs, while making money of course!
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Venture capitalism in itself is a very complex situation and is needed as for a number of applicable conditions for finance and economy.

Crash Course on Venture Capital

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