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  • July 2004 (Revised December 2004)
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  • HBS Case Collection

How Venture Capitalists Evaluate Potential Venture Opportunities

By: Michael J. Roberts and Lauren Barley
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:19
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Abstract

Four venture capitalists from leading Silicon Valley firms are interviewed about the frameworks they use to evaluate potential venture opportunities. Questions include: How do you evaluate the venture's prospective business model? What due diligence do you conduct? What is the process through which funding decisions are made? What financial analyses do you perform? What role does risk play in your evaluation? and How do you think about a potential exit route? Russell Siegelman, partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; Sonja Hoel, managing director at Menlo Ventures; Fred Wang, general partner at Trinity Ventures; and Robert Simon, director at Alta Partners, are interviewed.

Keywords

Venture Capital; Opportunities; Framework; Entrepreneurship; Forecasting and Prediction

Citation

Roberts, Michael J., and Lauren Barley. "How Venture Capitalists Evaluate Potential Venture Opportunities." Harvard Business School Case 805-019, July 2004. (Revised December 2004.)
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