Expara VC Masterclass

Expara VC Masterclass - Live

Venture capital is hard. Our venture capital workshop for individuals.

Who will benefit from this course?

Venture investors

For experienced venture investors, hone your skills and improve your performace. For newer investors, quickly build your knowledge and skills.
Traditional investors

Venture investments are very different from traditional investments. Learn to avoid the mistakes many new investors make when investing in start-ups.
Entrepreneurs

Lack of understanding about venture capital can result in failed fundraising or in bad deals for start-ups Learn to think about start-ups like a VC.

What will I learn in this course?

Venture capital investing is hard. Even top VCs have failure rates of more than 50% across their portfolios. The difference between success and failure can come down to the performance of 1 or 2 investments out of 30. Venture investors must know how to identify potentially successful ventures, how to structure deals with entrepreneurs and how to generate the high returns that characterize successful venture capital investing. In this course you will earn the key skills for successful VC investment: evaluating high-potential investment opportunities, using financial projections to arrive at proper valuation for start-ups, and structuring and negotiating good investment deals. The course is hands-on, interactive and experiential and the learning can be applied immediately beyond the online classroom.

What will I get from this course?

The course is structured as an experiential learning simulation in which each participant will play the role of a venture capital investor identifying, evaluating and investing in real-world start-up companies. Participants will evaluate investments in new ventures, create a forecasted financial plan and valuation for an early-stage business venture, engage in simulated investment presentations and negotiations between entrepreneurs and investors. Participants will be hands-on and will be equipped with a toolkit that they can immediately apply beyond the course.

6 hours of live interactive sessions with Expara CEO Douglas Abrams
77 videos - 15 hours of viewing and 65 original articles for reading
Video presentations and slide decks of real start-ups
4 interactive case-studies with detailed feedback
Pro-forma Valuation Excel Model for start-ups
Start-up evaluation checklist and term sheet template
Expara Academy Certificate of Course Completion

Course curriculum

1. A message from the instructor
2. About the instructor
3. Connecting to my network
4. READ FIRST: How to complete the course
5. Submissions, assignments and downloads
6. About Expara
7. Reading list for investors
1. What is the relationship between risk and return?
2. Risk and return
3. Why fear risk?
4. Risk and return - Small versus scalable business
5. Reading: Risk and return
6. Reading - Two types of entrepreneurs
7. Reading - Fear and failure
1. Welcome to venture capital world
1. Highest returning asset class
2. VC is the highest returning asset class
3. VC improves portfolio diversification
4. Reading - Why do investors invest in VC funds?
5. Reading - Top VC fund managers can consistently outperform
1. Why VC now
2. Why venture capital now
3. Reading - Is moores law over?
4. Reading - Amaras law
1. Scalable or lifestyle business?
2. Why should startups raise investment
3. Reading - Why do start-ups raise money?
1. How to fund growth?
2. Which form of funding is best?
3. How to fund growth
4. Reading - What is the best form of funding for a start up
5. Reading - What is the difference between debt and equity?
6. Reading - Only a moron starts a business with a loan
1. This could be you
2. This could be you
1. Success from failure
2. Success from failure
3. Reading - Success from failure
4. Reading - What percentage of start-ups really fail?
5. Reading - Why do so many start-ups fail?
6. Reading - Why is it good that so many start-ups fail
7. Reading - Do difficult things
1. What kind of companies do VCs invest in?
2. How do VCs make money?
1. Which one is more scalable- product or service?
2. What sectors do VCs invest?
3. What kind of companies generate high returns?
4. Reading - What is the optimal time to enter a market?
5. Reading - What do VCs invest in?
6. Reading - Which scales better?
7. Reading - Good business vs good investment
1. The investor’s decision tree
2. The investor’s decision tree
3. Key elements for success
4. Key elements for success
5. Reading - Product market fit or team
6. Reading - Three most important factors
7. Reading - Key elements of success
8. Download: Business plan outline and checklist
1. Communicating with investors
2. Investor and start up communication
3. Reading - How to connect with investors
1. Defining innovation
2. Innovation and value proposition questions to ask
3. Why invest in innovators
4. Reading - Innovation and value proposition
5. Reading - Innovators, imitators and idiots
6. Reading - Is Grab an innovator or an imitator?
7. Reading - Pain and demand (How does pain drive demand)
8. Innovation and value proposition questions to ask
1. Choose a market favourable to start ups
2. Market life cycles and structures
1. Market identification and analysis
2. Determining who your customers are
1. Sizing the market
2. Top-down and bottom-up market sizing
3. Reading - Sizing the market for a start-up
4. Market identification and analysis questions to ask
1. CLV vs CAC
2. Market positioning
3. 4 Ps
4. Reading - What are unit economics?
5. Product differentiation
6. Marketing strategy questions to ask
1. Sustainable competitive advantage
2. Competing with large companies
3. How startups beat established companies?
4. Sustainable Competitive Advantage (Market Leaders, Dinosaurs, and Small Mammals)
5. Creating last mover advantage
6. Sustainable competitive advantage questions to ask
7. Reading - Why are you using Whatsapp?
8. Reading - Why are there only two ride sharing companies in each market?
9. Reading - First mover disadvantage last mover advantage
10. Reading - Market leaders dinosaurs small mammals and asteroids
1. Strategies to create advantage
2. First mover advantage & last mover advantage
3. Reading - SCA case study: who was the first mover in personal computers
1. IP strategy
2. IP strategy
3. Reading - Is it possible for someone to steal your start-up idea?
4. Reading - What are the elements of an IP strategy for start-ups?
1. Case Study I – Opportunity identification
2. List of presenting start-ups
3. Advantir Pitch
4. Anrich3D Pitch
5. EcoWorth Tech pitch
6. Globish Pitch
7. Let's Plant Meat Pitch
8. Lumani Pitch
9. Perception Pitch
10. Portier Technologies Pitch
11. Sharent Pitch
12. System Stone Pitch
13. Voxy Pitch
14. Advantir Piitch deck
15. Anrich 3D Pitch Deck
16. EcoWorth Tech Pitch Deck
17. Globish Pitch Deck
18. Let's Plant Meet Pitch Deck
19. Lumani Pitch Deck
20. Perception Pitch Deck
21. Portier Pitch Deck
22. Sharent Pitch Deck
23. System Stone Pitch Deck
24. Voxy Pitch Deck
1. In the financial section of the business plan
2. Why do we need a financial plan?
3. Financial projections - financial section of the business plan (2)
4. Valuation - financial section of the business plan (3)
1. Business Model - The financial section of the business plan (1)
2. Key revenue model issues
3. Business model - how will you make money?
4. Reading - What is a business model?
1. Business model innovation
2. Business model innovations
3. Reading - What is the Gillette business model
4. Reading - Disruptive business models
1. Case Study II – Business model
2. Case study: Zipcar: refining the business model
1. Create financial projections
2. Download: Financial projection and valuation model
3. Why forecast 5 years?
4. Starting with revenue forecast
5. Top-down market sizing example - Plant-based meat
6. Top-down market sizing example - Sesame milk
7. Bottom up market sizing
8. Introduction to Revenue forecast in Excel
9. Why is the top-down forecast different from bottom-up forecast?
10. Mistakes startup CEOs make
11. Reading - Why will financial forecasts always be wrong?
12. Financial model explained 1
13. Financial model explained 2
14. Financial model explained 3
15. Balance sheet
16. Income statement 1
17. Income statements 2
18. Cash flow budget
19. DCF valuation model
20. Financials and DCF Valuation
21. Weighted average cost of capital
22. Valuation in financial modelling
23. Dilution schedule and investor ROI
24. Reading - Why are there so many unprofitable startups?
25. Reading - How is a model different from reality
1. Why do most valuation methods fail for start-ups?
2. Why do most valuation methods fail for start-ups?
3. Reading - Why do traditional valuation methods fail?
4. Company valuation methods
5. Comparables
6. Methods of valuation - comparables
7. Discounted cash flow valuation
8. Methods of valuation - discounted cash flow
9. VC method
10. Methods of valuation - VC method
11. VC method valuation explained
12. Where do the numbers in VC method valuation come from?
13. Reading - What drives VC fund returns
14. Key valuation issues
15. Reading - Epidemic of overvaluation
16. Reading - Why don't startups pay dividends?
17. Reading - What is cost of capital and why is it important?
1. Exit strategy and ROI
2. ROI and dilution
3. Calculate investor's ROI including dilution
4. Exit strategy and ROI
5. Reading - How do VCs make money
1. Case Study III – Financial modeling and valuation
1. VC investment process
2. Capital and legal structure of the firm
3. Equity issued to whom
4. Key legal agreements
5. Why is the multistep fundraising process so important?
6. The fundraising journey of startups
7. Reading - VC funding process enables innovation
8. Reading - Angel or VC or CVC which is best
9. Reading - Who are venture investors?
10. Reading - What is FF and F?
11. Reading - What is OM and how much of it do you need?
12. Reading - The best and worst times to raise money
13. Capital and legal structure of a firm
14. 5 key agreements in venture capital deals
15. Reading - Key agreements in VC investment
16. Reading - Why not give up the minimum equity
1. Economic terms in term sheets: Part I
2. Economic terms in term sheets: Part II
3. Control terms in term sheets
4. An example of how liquidation preference works
5. What is founder vesting
6. What does a clean cap table look like
7. Convertible debt vs equity
8. SAFE notes
9. Key elements of the deal
10. Reading - Liquidation preference as valuation insurance
11. Reading - Key terms in VC term sheets
12. Cap tables
13. Reading: The 7 deadly sins of messy cap tables
14. Reading - What is founder vesting?
15. Download: Term sheet template and term sheet alternatives
16. Reading: How do VCs control startups after investment
17. Reading: Corporate structuring issues for VC investors
18. Reading: What forms of funding are used by VCs
19. Reading: What are convertible and SAFE notes and should we use them
20. Reading: Reserve matters and protective provisions
21. Reading: Retaining BOD control
22. Reading: What are reps and warranties
23. Reading: What is a drag-along clause
24. Reading: MFN and Pay to Play
25. Reading: What is redemption
26. Reading: What is anti-dilution protection
27. Reading: What are ROFRs and ROFOs and when are they bad
1. VC-start-up negotiations
2. VC startup negotiations
3. VC - startup negotiation game briefing

About this course

$4,800.00
233 lessons
16 hours of video content

Venture investors

Traditional investors

Entrepreneurs

Welcome to the course!

Understanding Risk and Return

Welcome to venture capital world

Why do investors invest in VC?

Why VC now?

Why do start-ups raise investment

How do start-ups fund growth

High returns to VC investors

Success from failure

How do VCs make money?

Evaluating investments - which companies generate high returns?

How do VCs evaluate start-ups?

Investor and start up communication

Assessing product market fit

Identifying favorable markets

Market identification and analysis

Sizing the market

Marketing strategy

Sustainable competitive advantage

Strategies to create advantage

IP strategy

Case study: Opportunity identification

Evaluating the financial plan

Understanding the business model

Disruptive Business models

Case study II - Business model

Financial models and projections

Valuation

Exit strategy and ROI

Case Study III: Forecasting and valuation

Investment process

Key deal terms and term sheets

VC-Start-up negotiations

About this course