Building Wealth through Venture Capital

Venture capital is the lifeblood of innovation and economic growth. The biggest business successes of the century – Amazon, Alphabet (parent of Google), and Facebook, to name just a few – were enabled by early venture capital investment. So it’s not surprising that venture capital has been one of the most richly rewarding investment asset classes of recent years.

Opportunities continue to abound. Humans’ ever increasing aspirations will inevitably drive the quest for innovation. Needs resulting from natural resource constraints, climate change, and other factors will make that quest even stronger.

Historically, access to venture capital investment opportunities has been limited largely to institutions and the super-wealthy. But recent government actions along with Internet technology have increased access significantly for individuals. This democratization is great for individual investors and also for entrepreneurs, who will benefit from more sources of funds.

Co-authors Len Batterson and Ken Freeman help readers capitalize on these developments with this practical guide for investors and entrepreneurs. Their advice combines Batterson’s experience from his extraordinary 35-year career in venture capital with Freeman’s perspective as someone much newer to the scene following a traditional corporate career, attracted initially by his interest as an individual investor.

The book leverages Batterson’s experience in explaining how investors can find the venture capital firms best suited to their needs and how these firms find the best deals. His experience also enables invaluable advice to entrepreneurs — guiding their search for money, coaching on what VCs look for and how to best interact with the VC, discussing how the VC can help maximize venture potential, and reviewing options for ultimately cashing in on winning ventures.

Acknowledging the riskiness of each individual venture investment, the book provides practical advice on diversifying within the asset class, educates on how to think about deal valuations, suggests investor wariness regarding some highly publicized ventures, and even encourages how tightly to limit one’s total venture capital investment as a percentage of his or her total portfolio.