
Ask HN: Are there any “Startup Funding for Dummies” resources? - ljoshua
We hear so much about various companies raising a round, exiting, attracting angel&#x2F;VC attention, etc., but for those of us who have not done it before, it feels like there are a lot of knowledge gaps and potential pitfalls.<p>Has anyone seen or compiled a good list of resources that help business owners (specifically startups) learn about and more fully understand what it means to find, accept, and use investment funding? I&#x27;m thinking about the questions that don&#x27;t often get answered such as, &quot;How much equity do you usually exchange?&quot; or &quot;What happens in a failure case and you don&#x27;t exit to megamillion $$$ IPOs (or it just doesn&#x27;t make as much money)?&quot;<p>Book recommendations, blogs, online guides, etc. would be much appreciated. I&#x27;m sure the tribal knowledge is strong on this one.
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brudgers
There's Sam Altman's _Startup Playbook_. That would be my recommended starting
point.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10514729](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10514729)

On the other hand, worrying about what happens at IPO is premature
optimization until well down the road from raising money. That said, selecting
good investors is a good idea. By "good investors" I specifically mean
investors with a good track record investing in Silicon Valley style startups.
This implies that "startup" carries the specific meaning it has in Silicon
Valley and not the every-new-business-is-a-startup meaning that it carries
among entrepreneurs and investors just about everywhere else.

Lastly, there's also Graham's _Before the Startup_. I'd recommend that based
on the implications of "Startup's for Dummy's" in regard to "playing house."

Good luck.

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brudgers
After I wrote that comment, I came across this:
[https://steveblank.com/2016/03/16/what-founders-need-to-
know...](https://steveblank.com/2016/03/16/what-founders-need-to-know-you-
were-funded-for-a-liquidity-event-start-looking/)

