(Part 2) Best private equity books according to redditors
We found 105 Reddit comments discussing the best private equity books. We ranked the 24 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
If I were you, These are some steps I would take to increase my odds of getting a VC job assuming you are new the field and don't have $$ you can afford to easily lose.
A- No experience, little to no money
1- Read at least 5 books about the industry
2- Listen to podcasts and watch YouTube videos with VC interviews and teachings
3- Networks with VC
4- Land a job
5- Make money
6- Become a professional VC
Books to read
1- #Breaking Into VC - Bradley Miller
https://www.amazon.com/BreakIntoVC-Investor-Entrepreneur-Professional-Guidebook/dp/1544934343
2Done Deals
3-Essentials of Venture Capital
4- Venture Deals
5- The Business of Venture Capital
Podcasts and radio to listen to
1- Angellist radio
2 - 20 Minutes VC with Harry Stebbings
http://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/
3- Bloomberg radio
4- Investors archives series on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVJalJNQWimC2zWrIHR_bSQ
Networking with VC
You can go on VC firms websites, find some VC partners you admire and email or call them to pick their brain.
You could also attend VC meetings or pitc competitions if you have access to.
These first steps will increase your chance of getting a job or at least an internship leading to a job.
In terms of making money, this is a personal decision up to you. VC firms themselves are funded by Limited Partners such as pension funds or school endowments. So they are pretty much investing other people money in most cases.
All these steps apply if you want to be a professional VC in a traditional sense, a job like one would imagine an investor banker on Wall Street or a doctor working in a hospital.
B- If you have the knowledge and the money likeChris Sacca
Depending on your income, you can start right away and become a VC. If you have money, you can invest in any business venture you want and start practicing your craft. You wouldn't necessarily need to join a firm. You can even start your own firm if you're loaded.
In either case you need to have a deal flow (investment opportunities) and be able to do due diligence. VC is a calculated investment not a lottery.
You would also need a great understanding of the ecosystem of business venture including the relationship between VCs, entrepreneurs and the business opportunities/markets.
Go ahead and become a VC, you do need to get permission from anybody. If you're hungry enough figure it out and GO FOR IT.
If you want to know about what Mélenchon is essentialy describing, you'll want a book on the system of private equity, something like this.
EDIT: Found one on finance in general, but it's a bit dry.
Valuation is like voodoo. According to the IRS, the fair market value is the most important, but in reality there are lots of factors. For example, what would the business sell for today if the owners agreed to stay on as regular full-time employees - That value might be zero if their cash flow is poor, but clearly the business is worth something (and they are not going to just give away equity based on poor income valuation)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_valuation
This Forbes article does a fair summation of the issues you are dealing with:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/23/small-business-valuation-entrepreneurs-finance-zwilling.html
I would probably start with asset and income valuation and then try to put a number on the existing owner non-asset goodwill defined as:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodwill_(accounting)
I would avoid, "valuation based on what the founders have already put in, i.e. a % of their day-job salaries and cash." Those are sunk costs. What I mean by that can be explained by analogy: Would you pay someone $30,000 for a rusted-out, broken down 1988 Ford Ranger because the owner put $22,000 of improvements into it over its lifetime?
The owners may feel it's worth $30,000 because of their efforts, but as I often think when I am browsing Craigslist and run across an extremely overpriced vehicle, "If there's not a couple gold bars that go along with it, I'm not paying that." The reality is that the owners are going to tend to over-value the company because of sunk costs, but you have to come to a valuation based on the current realities (future earning projections can be taken into account as well, but I would be conservative in those estimates.)
There are accountants who specialize in business valuation. I would definitely retain one to work for you and not for the company. Look for someone who is a CPA and a Certified Business Analyst or Certified Valuation Analyst or American Society of Appraisers member.
There is a book that was recommended to me (I haven't read it yet) called Valuation.
http://www.amazon.com/Valuation-Measuring-Managing-Companies-Edition/dp/0470424656/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
There is also a workbook:
http://www.amazon.com/Valuation-Workbook-Step---Step-Exercises/dp/0470424648/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1395756019&sr=8-5&keywords=valuation+measuring+and+managing+the+value+of+companies
Again, I haven't gotten around to these yet. I did notice that the first review of Valuation has a recommendation for a book: Business Valuation which that reviewer says is the best for reviewing small, private companies. The review:
http://www.amazon.com/Valuation-Measuring-Managing-Companies-Edition/product-reviews/0470424656/ref=sr_1_1_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
The book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/047037148X/ref=cm_cr_asin_lnk
Good Luck!
Depends on how old you are.