Books

Jason Mendelson and I recently published the 4th Edition of Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist . The book now has three forewords – one by each of Fred Wilson (USV), James Park (Fitbit), and Dick Costolo (now 01 Advisors, then Twitter). The 1st edition had 13 chapters. We are now up to 19. The Players Preparing for Fundraising How to Raise Money Overview of the Term Sheet Economic Terms of the Term Sheet Control Terms Other Terms of the Term Sheet Convertible Debt The Capitalization Table Crowdfunding Venture Debt How Venture Capital Funds Work Negotiation Tactics Raising Money the Right Way Issues at Different Financing Stages Letters of Intent: The Other Term Sheet How to Engage an Investment Banker Why Do Term Sheets Even Exist? Legal Things Every Entrepreneur Should Know The new chapters in this edition are 11. Venture Debt (with help from SVB), and 17. How to Engage an Investment Banker (with help from Golding Partners). ...

Amy and I didn’t feel like taking a Christmas or New Year’s vacation this year so we just hung around Boulder, worked, and did our thing. We then decamped to Mexico last week for warmth, sun, beach, and books. News flash: there are a lot fewer people at a fancy resort in Mexico in the third week of January. It was a good reading week. How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success : We don’t have kids, but a friend recommended this. I decided to read it to see if any of it applied to being an investor or board member in a company. Yup – a bunch of it was spot on. After reading it, I’m still glad I don’t have kids. ...

I stayed up late last night finishing Lost and Wanted . If you are a reader, get this book in physical form. It’s worth savoring. Amy bought this book for me last week. When I asked her why, she belted out a stream of words: “MIT, female professor, the afterlife, sexual harassment, physics, racism, women.” She then said, “Fiction is a good way to access complicated topics.” This is a recurring dynamic in our relationship, as we often use shared fiction to discuss complex topics. Amy hasn’t read the book yet, so it’s now on the top of her infinite pile of books to read. ...

29 years of nightmares. Over 10,000 nights in a row. That’s hard to fathom. David R. Mellor , the Senior Director of Grounds for the Boston Red Sox Baseball team, experienced this. His eloquent memoir, One Base at a Time: How I Survived PTSD and Found My Field of Dreams , takes the reader on a very complicated journey, with extremely obvious physical pain intermingled with less apparent emotional pain. ...

I love origin stories. David Brown , Techstars CEO and co-founder, just updated his and published a new edition of No Vision All Drive . It’s the story of Pinpoint Technologies, his first company with David Cohen, one of the other co-founders of Techstars. As an origin story, it’s a detailed autobiography of what David learned from the experience of his first company. In this edition, he’s added some linkages into Techstars, and how his learning around entrepreneurship and leadership has evolved since the experience of Pinpoint. ...

Ryan Holiday’s newest book, Stillness Is The Key, came out at the beginning of October. I ended up with two copies and thought I’d read it over the weekend after they showed up at my house. The weekend slipped by and I didn’t pick it up until mid-day on Thanksgiving. It was pouring rain in San Diego all day so it was a perfect laying on the couch reading afternoon. I just finished and, once again, Ryan delivered with this book. ...

David Cohen and I are doing a public event in Boulder this Friday 10/11 and one in Denver next Thursday 10/17 around our new book Do More Faster: Techstars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup, 2nd Edition . These are happening at the Barnes & Noble stores listed below. 10/11: Friday @ 4pm: B&N Boulder: Crossroads Commons 2999 Pearl Street Boulder, CO 80301 10/17: Thursday @ 6pm: B&N Denver: Colorado Blvd II 960 S Colorado Blvd Glendale, CO 80246 ...

Ryan Holiday’s new book Stillness Is The Key is out. I have a copy on the top of my infinite pile of books at home along with a copy on my Kindle. I’ll be reading it this weekend. For a moment of inspiration today, take a look at his launch video. I’ve read every one of Ryan’s books. I’ve loved them all, learned from them, and gotten ideas and inspiration about how to adapt and adjust my behavior. ...

As Amy and I settle into our time in Homer, we spent a lot of last weekend (and the evenings) reading. We don’t have a TV up here, so our lying around entertainment is reading with some bonus knitting time for Amy. I’ve been working my way through the books at the upcoming Authors and Innovators Business Ideas Festival and got through three of them so far. I also read a near-final draft of John Minnihan’ s upcoming book and The Impossible Long Run: My Journey to Becoming Ultra by Janet Patkowa. ...

The view from my living room in Homer, Alaska Amy and I arrived in Homer this evening for some time in a different place. We are TV-free up here, so that means, well, books. She fell asleep early so I finished off The Bookish Life of Nina Hill which I had started several weeks ago but got distracted and read a few other things. The distraction was more a function of being in Boulder, surrounded by physical books which I read, in contrast to being in Homer with my Kindle, where I simply picked up on the last thing I had been reading. ...