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In the world of venture capital, investors look for deals that will return 10 to 20 times their original investment, although sometimes they do much, much better. Venture capitalists are looking for many things: not only a company that can dominate a business category, but one that will eventually be worth at least a half-billion dollars. And even if an entrepreneur can present a business plan that looks as if it can deliver a company of that size and prominence, the VC has to have confidence in that businessperson before time and money get invested in the startup.
That's a lot to expect from a new business, but there's more. According to Steve Harmon, an entrepreneur has few chances to get a VC's attention, so first impressions might mean the difference between millions invested and complete rejection. Harmon is an Internet-investment analyst who knows the VC world well, and Zero Gravity is his guide for people with new ideas: which VCs to approach (different firms specialize in different types of business startups, and each partner within those firms may have his or her own areas of specialization), how to approach them and get them excited about your idea, and what mistakes to avoid (hint: If you've already granted a chunk of the company to your doctor and your accountant in exchange for dribs and drabs of prestartup money, VC interest will be minimal).

This is about as complete a manual as an entry-level entrepreneur could hope for. Harmon not only covers the basics of searching for capital, he offers inspirational stories of the true VC successes (Amazon.com, Netscape, @Home) and includes interviews with the VCs themselves, letting them say in their own words how they pick the winners, and how you can become one of them. --Lou Schuler

According to Robert J. Robinson and Mark van Osnabrugge, so-called business angels--those generally unheralded private investors who usually specialize in high-growth fields and often involve themselves directly in the endeavors they fund--now provide 30 to 40 times more financing each year than their more famous counterparts, venture capitalists. In Angel Investing, Robinson and Van Osnabrugge use personal interviews, anecdotal evidence, and more than 300 research studies to show exactly who these financiers are, how they operate, and where they can be found. Robinson, an international management consultant, and Van Osnabrugge, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, also compare various financing options, explain precisely how angels and venture capitalists function differently, describe proven ways to attract them, and provide relevant resources. "The vast size and power of the business angel market in the United States is not well understood but is of incredible importance to our entrepreneurial sector and, indirectly, to maintaining our economic growth and standard of living," the authors write. They pack their book accordingly with valuable information for serious fund-seekers who have exhausted the traditional three F's (founder, family, and friends), as well as those who are considering entrepreneurial investments of their own. --Howard Rothman

"Until a few years ago," notes journalist-consultant Udayan Gupta, "venture capitalists were hardly on anyone's radar screen." That's not the case these days, as financiers who used to work behind the scenes now regularly set markets afire with their public support of high-profile technology and Internet stocks. In Done Deals, Gupta allows 35 of the brightest stars in what has become a $30-billion-a-year business to tell their own stories in their own words. We get to see exactly what they were thinking when they backed such endeavors as Intel, eBay, Excite, Genentech, and 3Com. Gupta's intention is to demonstrate how the industry has changed over the past half-century and how it differs today among its various forms. He achieves this beautifully by dividing the first-person accounts into thematically attuned sections that focus on dealmakers of the future (such as Mitch Kapor of Accel Partners), early pioneers (including the late Benno Schmidt of J.H. Whitney & Co.), West Coast veterans (such as Don Valentine of Sequoia Capital), past and present East Coast practitioners (like Charles Waite of Greylock Management), and visionaries (including John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers). Some of the stories are more detailed than others, but taken together, they provide a well-rounded view that will interest anyone who must deal with this often intertwined yet still individual world. --Howard Rothman

Entrepreneurs who dream of building the next Amazon, Facebook, or Google have the opportunity to take advantage of one of the most powerful economic engines the world has ever known: venture capital. To do that, you need to woo, impress, and persuade venture capitalists to back your endeavor. That task alone is a challenge. But finding and choosing the right investor can be harder still. Even if you manage to get backing, you want your VC to be a partner, not some dictator who will undermine your vision and take control of your life's work.

Jeffrey Bussgang is one of a very few people who have played on both sides of this high-stakes game. By his early thirties, he had helped build two successful start-ups-one went public, the other was acquired. Now he uses his experience and unique perspective on "the other side" as a venture capitalist helping entrepreneurs bring their dreams to fruition.

In the book, Bussgang offers high-level insights, colorful stories, and practical advice gathered from his own experience as well as from interviews with dozens of the most successful players on both sides of the game, including Twitter's Jack Dorsey and LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman. He reveals how to get noticed, perfect a pitch, and negotiate a partnership that works for everyone.

An insider's guide to the secrets of the world venture capital, Mastering the VC Game will prove invaluable for entrepreneurs seeking capital and successful partnerships.

Beginning in 2005, Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson, managing directors at Foundry Group, wrote a long series of blog posts describing all the parts of a typical venture capital Term Sheet: a document which outlines key financial and other terms of a proposed investment. Since this time, they've seen the series used as the basis for a number of college courses, and have been thanked by thousands of people who have used the information to gain a better understanding of the venture capital field.

Drawn from the past work Feld and Mendelson have written about in their blog and augmented with newer material, Venture Capital Financings puts this discipline in perspective and lays out the strategies that allow entrepreneurs to excel in their start-up companies. Page by page, this book discusses all facets of the venture capital fundraising process. Along the way, Feld and Mendelson touch on everything from how valuations are set to what externalities venture capitalists face that factor into entrepreneurs' businesses.

-- Includes a breakdown analysis of the mechanics of a Term Sheet and the tactics needed to negotiate
-- Details the different stages of the venture capital process, from starting a venture and seeing it through to the later stages
-- Explores the entire venture capital ecosystem including those who invest in venture capitalist
-- Contain standard documents that are used in these transactions

The venture capital arena is a complex and competitive place, but with this book as your guide, you'll discover what it takes to make your way through it.

Editor's Note: Feld's blog is one of the few I read regularly...