Book · 336 pages

Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It

Scott Kupor · Andreessen Horowitz Paid Intermediate

The clearest explainer of how VCs actually decide, from term sheets to how partnerships evaluate founders. Understanding the machine is leverage when you cannot rely on informal signaling to carry you. Read it so you play the funding game knowing the rules, not guessing them.

  • VCs optimize for upside, so frame the size of the opportunity.
  • Knowing deal mechanics protects you in negotiations.
  • Process literacy partly offsets a thin warm intro network.
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It answers 2 questions

  1. How do I write a cold email to an investor without sounding desperate?
  2. I'm a woman building in a category dominated by men. Does founder-market fit work differently for me?

Read with it

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  2. The most quoted essay on the mechanics of fundraising, distilled from YC Demo Day advice. It reframes fundraising as a sales... paulgraham.com Article · 45 min read How to Raise Money Paul Graham
  3. Currier's whole argument is that founder-market fit is more than the one line on a resume that says 'domain expert'. He breaks... NFX Article · ~12 min read The 4 Signs of Founder-Market Fit James Currier
  4. The YC essay tells you the rules; this shows you real founders following (and bending) them. These are 13 actual cold emails... OpenVC Blog Article · 12 min read 13 Cold Email Examples Sent to VC Investors OpenVC
  5. OpenVC runs the platform millions of these emails pass through, so their rules are drawn from data, not opinion: put a... OpenVC Article · 12 min read How to Cold Email Investors (And Actually Get Replies) OpenVC Team
  6. This nails the discipline behind the highlight reel: with prospects you share momentum factually without handing over what they... Lenny's Newsletter Article · 20 min read Raising a seed round 101 Lenny Rachitsky with First Round
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