403Course · Professional

Venture Capital

The capital of new firms.

The Course

Venture capital is the capital of new firms. This course teaches the fund model, the power law of returns, and the underwriting logic that applies to a Series A.

You will finish able to underwrite a Series A on stated assumptions and defend the answer.

Outcomes

01
Explain the VC fund model.
02
Distinguish seed, A, B, and later stages.
03
Underwrite a Series A on stated assumptions.

Prerequisites

— 402 — Private Markets.

Pacing

1–2 weeks · ~4 hours.

IModule · ~2 hours.
The fund
How the money is actually raised and returned.
The fund mechanics — committed vs. called capital, distributions, and carry — set the industry's incentives.
What You Will Be Able To Do
- — Explain fund mechanics.
- — Describe the power law.
- — State the J-curve honestly.
Why here
The fund model is the incentive; every downstream behavior derives from it.
IIModule · ~2 hours.
The stages
What each round is buying.
Each round is buying something different. This module maps the differences.
What You Will Be Able To Do
- — Distinguish seed through D+.
- — Compute dilution.
- — Underwrite a Series A.
Why here
The underwriting exercise is where the frameworks meet actual numbers.
1. 01Seed, A, B, C, D+Article12m
2. 02Underwriting a Series AInteractive20m

A Note from the Faculty

Two positions make most funds. Understanding the power law is the whole framing of the business.