Skill Track
Venture Capital
Venture capital operates under different rules than traditional investing. Power law returns, founder evaluation, and network effects dominate this ecosystem. Understanding how VCs think is valuable whether you are building a startup, investing in one, or simply analyzing tech companies.
Essential Reading
The Power Law
Sebastian Mallaby
A comprehensive history of venture capital from the founding of ARDC through the modern era. Explores how the industry evolved and why returns follow a power law distribution where a few winners dominate.
View on Penguin Random HouseZero to One
Peter Thiel with Blake Masters
Based on Thiel's Stanford lectures, this book argues that the most valuable companies create new things (going from 0 to 1) rather than copying existing ideas (1 to n). Essential reading for understanding contrarian thinking in tech.
View on Penguin Random HouseThe Hard Thing About Hard Things
Ben Horowitz
A practical guide to startup leadership from the co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz. Covers the difficult decisions founders face that business school doesn't teach: firing executives, managing through crises, and building culture.
View on a16zStartup & Innovation
The Lean Startup
Eric Ries
Introduces the build-measure-learn feedback loop and minimum viable product (MVP) concept. Essential methodology for understanding how modern startups validate ideas and iterate.
View on AmazonVenture Deals
Brad Feld & Jason Mendelson
The definitive guide to term sheets and the venture financing process. Covers deal structure, valuation, governance, and the mechanics of raising capital from both founder and investor perspectives.
View on AmazonNetwork Effects & Ecosystems
The PayPal Mafia
The early PayPal team went on to found or fund some of the most important tech companies: LinkedIn (Reid Hoffman), YouTube (Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, Jawed Karim), Yelp (Jeremy Stoppelman), Palantir (Peter Thiel, Joe Lonsdale), SpaceX/Tesla (Elon Musk), and Founders Fund. Their story illustrates how networks and talent clusters drive venture returns.
Leading VC Firms
Understanding the major firms and their investment philosophies helps you recognize patterns in successful tech investing.
Key Concepts
Power Law Returns
A few investments generate most returns. VCs need outlier successes to make fund economics work.
Funding Rounds
Pre-seed, Seed, Series A, B, C and beyond. Each stage has different risk profiles and expected returns.
Product-Market Fit
The inflection point where a product meets strong market demand. Pre-PMF and post-PMF companies are fundamentally different.
Moats & Network Effects
How tech companies build defensible advantages through network effects, data, and switching costs.
Technology Integration
Technical Fluency
VCs increasingly need technical understanding to evaluate startups. Learning to code helps you assess technical risk and understand product development timelines.
Automate the Boring Stuff (Free)AI in Venture
AI is changing both the companies VCs fund and how they operate. Understanding AI capabilities is increasingly essential for evaluating startups and identifying emerging opportunities.