Founder’s Pocket Guide: Startup Valuation

I teach an undergraduate course in new venture finance, and this has been the most useful book for introducing students to early stage valuations. If you have heard hundreds of entrepreneurial pitches like I have, you have undoubtedly heard your share of cringe worthy statements like, "we are seeking $100,000 for a 10% stake in our company." Never mind the fact that their business exists only on the slides of their pitch and their imaginations. Now my students know how assign values to and prioritize different early stage milestones to demonstrate their knowledge of value creation in startups and how it applies to the stage of financing they are seeking. There are occasional typos and misspellings in Mr. Poland's books but they are easy reads and actionable.

This puts startup valuation methods and thoughts neatly in one easy to read and understand place. If you are sucking the end of the pencil trying to figure out (a) what is in the mind of an investor, and (b) how to value an idea on a piece of paper, this book is a good, clear and concise start. And quite possibly all you need.

Quick and easy read and informative for entrepreneurs with little background in finance. Probably a bit elementary for those who professionally work in finance (VC, IB, val firm, etc.) but gives some useful insights on basic pre/post-money calculations when accounting for option pool increases. If you’re a professional I think this works best as an occasional reference book.

I am working my way through the Founders Pocket Guide Series and again I am delighted at the clear but thorough explanation of start up valuation techniques. 5 stars would recommend this series to any founder looking to raise capital or not!

If you are starting your very first company and have no idea how to think about valuations, but you want to try to raise money, then this book might be a great start. It is very short. Gives a good overview of the basic ideas of valuations and explains the key concepts. If you're an entrepreneur with any experience, or you've got your MBA, or you've raised money, or even been around people that have raised money, then this is probably not what you're looking for. Instead, I would suggest "Venture Deals" by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson. Not sure which is right for you? Here's a question that might help you. Do you know the difference between pre-money and post-money valuations? No? Then the Founder's pocket guide is a good place to start. Yes? Then this might be too basic and you'll want Venture Deals. FYI I'm speaking as a CEO of a series B, VC-backed company. Now that I need to raise, I know that the Founders guide was not nearly the depth I would need. But if I were ten years earlier in my career and thinking of raising $1,000,000 for my first company, then this might have been the tool for me at the time.

Many terms and concepts that I was not familiar previously, however everything was written simple to grasp. Very useful being an entrepreneur. A first friendly approach to talk about startups valuation. I recommend it.

This very small book has a profound research on methods and use cases for fund raising. I recommend this reading because it will help you know how to develop your raise funding plan.

Very short, comprahnsive, to the point. Worth the money. But as in the other comments stated, this is an extry level read.

Amazing. High recommended book for those who want to clearly understand the know how of VC valuations and as entrepreneurs how the cash flow game works to scale properly whatever business we do.

The world is callous toward ignorant entrepreneurs. If you cannot conduct decent discussions as to the valuation of your venture, prospective investors may look down on you. After you read this book, you would not have such worries. How to calculate a pre-money valuation backward is the section that I found most valuable.

So many so-called "Investors" haven't a clue. This title cleared up so many misconceptions, in regards to company evaluations. I am seen as an expert in this field, merely because I made the effort to study this book. Simple to read and straight to the point. High-level simplicity of a complex subject.

Useful for first time entrepreneurs. Very informative and easy to follow. Rigorous yet simple in essence (not simplistic). Highly recommended.

I was looking for a concise source of information on startup valuation and angel/venture investing to develop a comprehensive understanding of the process. I ordered this book together with all the other books in the series to make sure that I am armed with the necessary concepts, facts, tools and insights before I sit down with any investor. Now having read all the books, I am extremely happy with the purchase. While one can find most of this information on the web, having a structured repository of the knowledge through this book set was invaluable and really helpful.