Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It by Scott Kupor

Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It Reviews

• 
  DanaJ

  If I were to describe Scott Kupor’s Secrets of Sand Hill Road in a word, it would be “mistitled.” A appropriate title would be something along the lines of The Basics of Sand Hill Road. The book does a solid enough job of covering the entire venture backed startup lifecycle in an easy to follow way. However, it’s hard to see how one could classify Kupor’s writing as revealing secrets.
  
  Here and there, Kupor shares some really cool legal case studies that I’ve never come across, such as in the chapter about board member duties. Now that’s quality insight even someone who’s been in the ecosystem for 5+ years can appreciate! And it’s also something that Kupor, a lawyer by training, is particularly well positioned to share. I sincerely wish we’d gotten of those case studies, legal or otherwise, because they make the whole journey through the startup lifecycle all the interesting.
  
  Instead, Kupor at times dons the Captain Obvious cape, with pronouncements such as “building relationships [with potential acquirers] is important.” Thanks, Scott, who would’ve thought?!
  
  At the same time though, I recognize I may not be the target audience for this book. Kupor likely synthesized versions of startup/VC classes he teaches at Bay Area universities. I could imagine a sopho at another university (one not smack dab in the middle of VC country) reading this book and finding it quite helpful, as she decides whether to found a startup and pursue the venture funding route.
  
  It’s worth mentioning though that a significant share of the same content is also covered in Jeff Bussgang’s Mastering The VC Game. And while I haven’t read it, I’ve heard very positive things about Brad Feld’s Venture Deals. In all likelihood, reading either of these three books is probably a good enough basics crash course on venture funding of startups.
• 
  Godfather

  A sanitized, kiss ass, exercise in pandering to your bosses at a16z. My biggest complaint is Kupor’s SJW virtue signaling threaded throughout the chapters. What a creep.
• 
  Tech Historian

  Five stars to the marketeers at Andreesen Horowitz who came up with the misleading title of the book. Three stars for the rest of the book. There are no “secrets” in the book. It is essentially a tutorial of how venture capital works.
  
  It’s reads like a Venture Finance textbook without the chapter summaries. I can imagine that most of this came from Scott’s lecture notes while teaching Venture Law at Stanford.
  
  While the title might sell a lot of books it really won’t help Scott’s reputation as someone who can talk to entrepreneurs about what matters to them.
  
  If appropriately titled and marketed to aspiring VCs and lawyers it might have been four stars.
• 
  Christopher M. Schroeder

  This is one of perhaps three books I wish I had before I started my companies, and then began my subsequent venture capital fund. Crystal clear, detailed, interesting — filled with remarkable stories and data, but also empathy and personal experience. Wonderfully written. Must read.
• 
  GeraldM

  This book won't actually teach you how to get money from VCs but it will give you the guidelines you need to approach fund raising properly. However, this is a book that should be read by anyone wanting to approach VCs for funding. It is a very good overview of the industry that explains the jargon, operations and motivations of VCs. The price of this book is so low for the value it gives that there is no reason not to buy it if you are even contemplating interfacing with the VC community.
• 
  Jon H.

  Wow. As soon as I heard about this book I knew I was going to read it. But I had low expectations. I'd heard the author promoting his book on several podcasts and when I heard him say things like, "In my book, I pull back the curtain and reveal the secrets used at VC firms," I prepared myself for disappointment.
  
  Boy, was I pleasantly surprised to be wrong!
  
  The author breaks down all the lingo, jargon, and highfalutin finance double speak that sounds made up to the layman
  He helps you understand not just the relationship between the VC and the startup, but also the relationship between the VC and the LP
  You get to see the incentive structures LP's and VC's typically agree on, helping you (the entrepreneur) understand what motivates all the parties involved
  The book provides a mock term sheet with realistic numbers and devotes a chapter to each section of the term sheet
  
  I could go on and on.
  
  This definitely isn't a casual read especially once it gets to the sample term sheet. The book can dive deep into details and abstractions (there were several sections I had to read multiple times but I guess that's why I'm not a VC!), and that's exactly what makes it so enjoyable to read.
• 
  William Cosgrove

  I've been an entrepreneur for most of my career. Wish I would have read this book a long time ago (or grown up) earlier. This book helps you see things from the perspective of a VC and see how they think. If your product is just a marginal improvement, or a lifestyle business, VC's have no interest. Being charming or persistent won't change this fact. Very illuminating, and Scott shares this perspective in a non arrogant and articulate way.
• 
  Hugh Seaton

  Scott Kapur provides a three dimensional view of the venture capital transaction, from the incentives VCs face, what they look for as a result, and the documents that are generated to make their preferred outcomes likely. Coming after having read Brad Feld's "Venture Deals," I would suggest reading both.
  
  Every startup founder should read this book early and often.
• 
  S azmi

  I can’t actually think of a better comment recommending the book because hard core finance types would never bother to read something like this but if you are part of the 99.9999% of the world that didn’t get a degree in finance, I recommend this heartily.
• 
  Carles R.

  Great book for entrepreneur beginners. Also great for startup employees to get a better sense of the funding process
• 
  Steven N.

  5* across the board. Scott (who I used to work with in the late ‘90s) does a brilliant job demystifying the VC industry and tells you exactly what you need to do to be able to raise venture capital. Highly recommend. 🙌🏼
• 
  Dave

  Lots of books about VC financing and raising investment, however this book gives a genuine behind the scenes look at topics that other books don’t seem to touch on
• 
  osi

  Very well written with useful insights for entrepreneurs. Explains the inner workings of VCs and the entire value chain in VC investing as well as the processes