Description
***WINNER STARTUP/SCALEUP BOOK OF THE YEAR: BUSINESS BOOK AWARDS 2022***
Before you get on the Money Train, here's what you need to know...
You have a great business idea but very little money. There are investors out there with lots of money looking for interesting new businesses to invest in. On the face of it, it's a match made in heaven - but beware the details of the deal you do...
You won't be dealing with inexperienced investors. The standard models that investors impose on start-ups and young companies can mean loss of control, overbearing input, disproportionate reward to the wrong shareholders, or founders being squeezed out of their own businesses. The shape of your investment agreements will drive the future success of your business and your ultimate rewards.
This book prepares you for the investment journey and helps you avoid the pitfalls. Once you choose to get on board the Money Train, it becomes a journey with a pre-determined destination. And it can be almost impossible to stop, change direction, or get off.
David Pattison has considerable experience chairing and advising companies looking to raise funds across a wide range of industries. In this book he shares what every young business needs to know about investors before they buy a ticket for the Money Train journey, meaning you have a better chance of riding up front, in control of the journey, rather than in the last passenger coach, being bounced around at high speed, uncomfortable and out of control.
Essential reading for any start-up founder considering entering the shark-infested waters of funding and investment.
About the Author
David Pattison left school not knowing what he wanted to do. He 'fell' into the advertising industry and made good progress becoming a main board director at the age of 29. In 1990 he started his own business with two partners that was sold and became part of the Omnicom Group. PHD is now a worldwide brand in eighty markets.
He attended Harvard Business School and lived and worked in New York building PHD USA. Before leaving PHD he launched offices in 35 markets including Moscow, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore.
After PHD he was asked by the founders to sell an independent digital media business, which he achieved successfully just before the world economic crisis in 2008.
Reviews
This is a fantastic book - a preparatory guide to help young businesses and their founders make better decisions when it comes to raising money.
It cuts out all of the dross and gets right to the point. The author has clearly been on both sides e.g. fundraiser and investor and gives numerous examples that are based on their own firsthand experiences.
Having raised investment in the past myself, it's helped me identify many of the areas where I went wrong, as well as validate some of the things that I've been doing right more recently.
If you're a budding entrepreneur and need some help and guidance with your first, second or even your third investment round, I highly recommend this book. There's ten key stages, all of which you can flick to and from as you reach that specific part in your fundraising journey. It's become a reference book for me!
As a startup founder embarking on my investment journey this book really helped me learn a lot about the investment process and made me feel much better prepared to engage with investors.
I particularly enjoyed learning through David's personal experiences which made it an easy and enjoyable read.
The book is really well laid out with good summaries at the end of each section, which i'm sure i'll be referring back to when I need a refresher.
Highly recommended!
Having read the book, I wish it had been released when I first launched my own startup 6 years ago. The author has clearly lived through the ups and downs of fundraising and has distilled his knowledge into separate self-contained compartments as the book's title alludes to. If like me you're already part way through your journey, you can save time by simply jumping to the relevant section; I read the whole book anyway.
There are lots of must-read books for founders and most advise on how to build products, iterate, sell, etc. However, in my experience the majority of startups fail not because the founders weren't good at building products or services or selling. They failed because they couldn't convince sceptical investors to invest in their vision or even if they managed that, they got the wrong investors who forced the founders to go in the wrong direction.
No startup founder dreams about fundraising but sadly it's what they will end up spending the majority of their time on. They will also spend more time than they'd like talking with their investors instead of working on building the business.
This is the first book (as far as I know) that is specifically written to navigate the minefield that is fundraising and investor relations from beginning to end. My advice, add it to your must-read list and preferably towards the top.
I wish I had this book three years ago - but I'm glad I've got it now!
An incredibly in depth, yet easy to read, walk through the minefield of attracting, negotiating and dealing with the different types of investors out there.
Everything is explained very simply, in a way that encourages you to ask questions on what you are looking to achieve from raising investment, and ultimately gives you the information to answer all important questions like "why, who, and how much"
So useful I have bought again to send to a friend.
* Amazon *Awards
Winner of BUSINESS BOOK AWARDS: STARTUP/SCALEUP BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022.
Book Information
ISBN 9781788601948
Author David Pattison
Format Paperback
Page Count 196
Imprint Practical Inspiration Publishing
Publisher Practical Inspiration Publishing
Weight(grams) 378g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 140mm * 14mm
