Secrets of Sand Hill Road
by Scott Kupor, Eric Ries · first published 2019
71% recommend29% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Explains how venture capital works from the investor side, including fundraising, dilution, and the incentives of the different players; useful for founders and for people preparing for VC or investment roles.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"What are venture capitalists saying about your startup behind closed doors? And what can you do to influence that conversation? If Silicon Valley is the greatest wealth-generating machine in the world, Sand Hill Road is its humming engine. That's where you'll find the biggest names in venture capital, including famed VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, where lawyer-turned-entrepreneur-turned-VC Scott Kupor serves as managing partner. Whether you're trying to get a new company off the ground or scale an existing business to the next level, you need to understand how VCs think. In Secrets of Sand Hill
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The new book Secrets of Sand Hill Road by Scott Kupor is slightly newer, a little more readable, and talks a lot about dilution, but otherwise covers almost the same ground. Both books are great in understanding the space and motivations…
on “WeWork’s 17th employee: I was not offered options” ↗"Secrets of Sand Hill Road" by Scott Kupor (Managing Partner @ A16Z). Was recommended to read this by VC friends to prep for Investment Associate interviews a couple years ago
on “Now live for all: Substack Notes” ↗> Is there academic research on this by any chance Read "Secrets of Sand Hill Road". It's written by Scott Kupor - one of the Managing Partner at A16Z - and explains in depth how the VC model works. It's also required reading if you want to interview at a VC fund, and highly recommended…
on “Prediction markets have an elections problem” ↗…Why (Simon Sinek) - What You Do is Who You Are (Ben Horowitz) - Drive (Daniel Pink) - Mindset (Carol Dweck) - Grit (Angela Duckworth) - The Almanack of Naval Ravikant (Eric Jorgenson) Fundraising/VC - Secrets of Sand Hill Road (Scott Kupor) - Venture Deals (Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson) - Raising Venture Capital (Andy Sparks) - The Business of Venture Capital (Mahendra Ramsinghani) - Done Deals (Udayan Gupta) - The Power Law…
on “Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?” ↗…other members of the board, or as a board member voted by shareholders. But which of these outcomes is possible likely depends on her negotiating position at the time(s) she raised funds. The book 'Secrets of Sand Hill Road' has useful guidance on this. See the first 10 pages of chapter 10.
on “Ask HN: Do you retain your board seat after resign from your company?” ↗All the 'founder attitude' book recs are probably a good idea, but I would recommend supplementing with some VC and investing vehicle stuff, such as Secrets of Sand Hill Road and The Power Law, especially if that seems unimportant and tedious. Understanding your options and what the incentives are for investors will help you better understand where you are likely to be aligned…
on “Ask HN: Must-Read Books for Startups?” ↗Great resource! Thanks for compiling this. From the other side of the table, Scott Kupor (a16z) has written a new book[1] "Secrets of Sand Hill Road". I look around and find mostly positive reviews for this. Yet to pick it up. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Sand-Hill-Road-Capital-ebook/...
on “Show HN: A curated library of venture capital investment pitch decks” ↗…affordable and scaleable. I also take ton of courses, and to be honest, I am usually taking one of my own courses in the background for professional development. Right now I am listening to a course on "Secrets of Sand Hill Road" by Scott Kupor. It helps me to pick up concepts more quickly without the filler as it would take me 9 hours to listen to the audiobook and its about 1.5 hours in course form with quizzes.
on “We can generate 15-hour training courses in under 20 minutes” ↗