Business Finance for Entrepreneurs

Summary of Entrepreneurial Finance Course

Perhaps one of the most amazing things nowadays is how multi-billion fortunes are being created within just several years out of thin air by people in their 20s and 30s. This course helps better understand what exactly drives valuation of startup companies are during their lifetime, from seed investing all the way to IPO, and what role terms of investment play. The purpose of this course is to provide students with theory and practice of valuing startup-up companies, structuring venture capital deals and addressing other issues related to early-stage investing.

During the course, we discuss four main areas. We study how to evaluate new business opportunities, to raise money from investors and to exit eventually – all from the perspective of entrepreneurs. We also study, from the perspective of venture capitalists, how venture capital firms operate and how they are viewed by their investors, i.e. limited partners.

Recommended Textbook for Entrepreneurial Finance Course

The recommended optional textbooks for this course are: “Structuring Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Entrepreneurial Transactions” by Jack S. Levin and “Venture Capital and the Finance of Innovation” by Andrew Metrick.

Duration of the course can vary, depending primarily on the amount of time a student is able to commit and student’s previous experience with accounting and finance. In most cases, the course can be completed within 4 weeks, given 2 sessions per week.

This course is an advanced one and as such it requires working knowledge of financial and accounting concepts and tools, as well as the valuation segment of corporate finance. Having basic understanding of strategic management and business law would also be very helpful. In addition, almost all the case studies in this course require some degree of financial modeling, therefore fluency in Excel is critical as well.

Entrepreneurial Finance Course Outline

1. Introduction and Overview of Entrepreneurial Finance.
2. Valuation.
   1. DCF method.
   2. Venture Capital method.
   3. Real option valuation.
3. Deal Structure.
   1. Common contract terms.
   2. How deal structure affects valuation.
4. VC Partnerships.
   1. Structure.
   2. Performance.
5. IPO.

Tagged as: Business Finance, corporate finance, Finance for Entrepreneurs