A List of 10 Venture Capital and Angel Investing Books
Are you interested in learning more about venture capital and angel investing? Perhaps you want to break into VC or make your first angel investment? While plenty of venture capitalists and angel investors document their experiences in startup investing, few books exist on the subject.
That’s why we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of books that delve into VC and angel investing. Read on to view it.
Venture capital books
eBoys: The First Inside Account of Venture Capitalists at Work
Written by: Randall E. Stross
This book gives you an inside look at what it was like to work at one of the most successful VC firms of all time in the 1990’s. To write it, Randall E. Stross followed the partners at Benchmark for two years to learn more about how they think about and make decisions to back startups.
Venture Capitalists at Work: How VCs Identify and Build Billion-Dollar Successes
Written by: Tarang Shah and Shital Shah
This book includes interviews with some of the world’s most successful VC’s: Roelof Botha (partner at Sequoia Capital), Mike Maples (partner at Floodgate), Ann Winblad (partner at Hummer Winblad Venture Partners), and Alan Patricof (partner at Primetime Partners and former partner at Greycroft).
In it, these VC’s and others share how they make investing decisions, the ways in which they structure deals and help their portfolio companies, and other aspects of the profession.
Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist
Written by: Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson
In this book, two leading VC’s (Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson from Foundry Group) dive into the details of the industry. It covers key terms you need to understand in your term sheets, how deals come together and get structured, and tips for negotiating.
This book is perfect for founders who want to better understand their term sheets, VC’s who want to get better at their jobs, and lawyers or other professionals who need to know the intricacies of how VC’s close deals.
Creative Capital: Georges Doriot and the Birth of Venture Capital
Written by: Spencer E. Ante
This book tells the story of Georges Doriot, the person who created the venture capital industry. Doriot, who founded American Research and Development (the first VC firm), backed many important companies in the 20th century.
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
Written by: Peter Thiel and Blake Masters
Peter Thiel provides his framework for creating innovations in Zero to One. While it isn’t strictly about venture capital, Zero to One is a must-read for anyone who wants to or already does work in tech, venture capital, and startups.
Mastering the VC Game: A Venture Capital Insider Reveals How to Get from Start-up to IPO on Your Terms
Written by: Jeffrey Bussgang
Jeffrey Bussgang is a partner at Flybridge. He has experience as both an entrepreneur and a VC, and he offers practical advice in this book that can help entrepreneurs raise capital and VC’s maintain productive partnerships with their portfolio company founders.
The Business of Venture Capital: Insights from Leading Practitioners on the Art of Raising a Fund, Deal Structuring, Value Creation, and Exit Strategies
Written by: Mahendra Ramsinghani
This is a must-read for anyone who wants to have a career in venture capital and raise a fund. In it, you will learn how to raise a venture fund, source investments, and help your portfolio companies exit successfully.
The book also features interviews with limited partners such as Credit Suisse, Top Tier Capital Partners, Grove Street Advisors, Rho Capital, pension fund managers, and family offices.
Angel investor books
Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups--Timeless Advice from an Angel Investor Who Turned $100,000 into $100,000,000
Written by: Jason Calacanis
Jason Calacanis is one of the world’s most successful angel investors. He has invested in startups like Uber, Thumbtack, Calm, and Robinhood. In his book, Calacanis teaches you to think like an investor and shares a process you can use to begin angel investing.
Angel Investing: The Gust Guide to Making Money and Having Fun Investing in Startups
Written by: David S. Rose
David S. Rose is the founder of Gust, which is a platform that helps startups raise capital. Drawing on his experience investing in 90+ startups, Rose shares how you can get started as an angel investor, evaluate opportunities, build your reputation, and add value to your portfolio companies.
A-List Angels: How a Band of Actors, Artists, and Athletes Hacked Silicon Valley
Written by: Zack O'Malley Greenburg
Hollywood and pro sports athletes have spent the last decade becoming angel investors in some of the world’s fastest growing companies. This group includes people like Ashton Kutcher, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Jennifer Lopez, Alex Rodriguez, and Shaq.
In this book, you will learn how celebrities have backed companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Spotify, creating generational wealth for themselves along the way.
Other resources to learn about venture capital and angel investing
To learn more about VC and angel investing, we recommend checking out these additional resources:
- The Twenty Minute VC (podcast)
- This Week in Startups (podcast)
- The a16z Podcast (podcast)
- Anatomy of Next (podcast)
- First Round Review (blog)
- AVC (Fred Wilson’s blog)
- Both Sides of the Table (Mark Suster’s blog)
- Negotiating the Terms (a blog that interviews young women who work in venture capital)
- Feld Thoughts (Brad Feld’s blog)
- Paul Graham’s Essays (blog)
- Chris Dixon’s blog
- Above the Crowd (Bill Gurley’s blog)
- Andrew Chen’s blog
- Sam Altman’s blog
- Tomasz Tunguz’s blog
- The Barefoot VC (Jalak Jobanputra’s blog)This is going to be BIG (Charlie O’Donnell’s blog)