Course description
This course focuses on the venture capital cycle and typical venture-backed start-up companies. It covers the venture fund structure and related venture capital objectives and investment strategies, intellectual property, and common organizational issues encountered in the formation of start-ups. It covers matters relating to initial capitalization and early stage equity incentive and compensation arrangements, valuation methodologies, challenges of fundraising, due diligence, financing strategies, and harvesting. Students critically examine investment terms found in term sheets and the dynamics of negotiations between the owners and the venture capitalist. The course examines the role of venture capitalists in providing value addition during the growth phase for portfolio companies. Alternate financing channels that include incubators, accelerators, crowd-funding, angels, and super-angels are studied in depth. The system of rules, practices, and processes by which start-ups are directed and controlled and the typical dynamics that play out between the venture capitalist and the entrepreneur are an integral part of this course.
