If you are looking for information on VC, you often need to surf through the clutter on the Internet. While you may very well find what you’re looking for, it’s easy for you to experience information overload. But no worries, as this article will suggest the VC resources for you to get started with your self-learning endeavor. Read on.
Your secret ‘weapon’ for success: Staying relevant
Keeping yourself updated with the recent trends can give your competitive advantages. This holds true in the VC world – e.g. The unicorn phenomena and the rise of fintech are two of the main highlights in the past few years.
Busy running your business and looking for opportunities, it’s easy for startups and investors to ignore the changes in the industry and market. For example, if you’re not sure what Pokemon Go is, repent – it’s a groundbreaker and game changer in the app and gaming industry, and regardless of whether it’s a fad or not, it has disrupted the industry, forever. You, as an entrepreneur and investor, should be aware of such trends.
To help you out in your endeavor in staying relevant in the current market, we’ve gathered 10 of the best VC resources, from which you can gain insights about the current state of the industry. Here’s the list.
Top 10 VC resources
1. Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a great place for any startup owner to begin their research. In fact, it’s listed first because it’s arguably the most comprehensive and reliable list of VC firms to be found online, without paying for a subscription.
While you won’t find a ton of advice, most of the big VC firms are listed on this page at any given time. The page offers useful information to startup founders such as company name, location, years in business and their financial resources. One of the most useful VC resources, indeed.
2. The Funded
The Funded is pretty much on par with Crunchbase’s crowdfunded VC data model. Depending on how in-depth you plan on getting with your research, The Funded might be your second stop (after Wikipedia) to see how investors and startup CEOs rank the various VC firms and popular angel investors out there.
The site is very comprehensive including a blog, discussion forum, top VC list, banned VC list (make sure to read this first), a section where you can rate your “Entrepreneurial DNA” to see how you stack up, VC news, information resource links, and much more.
The Funded claims to have over 20,000 CEOs among their members, making this one of the top online resources if you’re looking to fund or get funded.
3. Crunchbase
If you don’t already have an account set up on Crunchbase, there’s no time like the present. Sign up is easy, but you must do so using an established social media account, as they take data integrity on the site very seriously.
In a nutshell, this platform is a powerful crowdsourced data pool that can be used by startup owners, investors and advisers to see who’s getting funded around the world and for how much. Data can easily be downloaded in spreadsheet format.
4. Venture Beat
Venture Beat is a VC resource for those in the tech and/or marketing scene. The site offers tons of news about what’s going on in the funding scene currently, including the latest and greatest startups, who’s funding them, and for how much.
Venture Beat also hosts themed funding events throughout the U.S. to bring business owners and investors together. Last, there’s a great knowledge-base in the research section where you can search for information and check out the latest surveys they’ve compiled.
5. Microventures
Microventures is a great place for both startups and investors to visit to gain opportunities and insights. Like so many on this list, this sight is a crowdfunded venture, which is becoming evermore popular for early-stage startups who don’t yet have the financials to approach high equity firms with their business idea yet.
The site funds everything from tech, to traditional media, to Internet startups and social networks. There’s also a great blog filled with information and connections to larger funding corporations they’re able to facilitate connections with (for the right startups).
6. NVCA
The National Venture Capital Association is funded as part of the U.S. government’s “Jobs Act”: a reform committed to job creation and economic growth initiatives in the country. While you’ll find very little in the way of information or rating systems on current VC investors, you will find just about everything else. The NVCA is essentially the government watchdog of the venture capital industry in the United States.
Visit this site often and sign up for their email updates to keep abreast of everything going on in the business and investment sector including how much investors are investing, where the latest NVCA get-togethers are taking place, and much more. The best thing about this website is that startup CEOs can rest relatively assured that the facts, data, and stats listed on NVCA is unbiased and geared toward helping entrepreneurs of all kinds thrive.
7. U.S. Small Business Association
When searching for unbiased information about how to start finding a reputable investor and what steps you need to take before walking into the boardroom, SBA.gov always needs to be on your list.
They offer ground-up information on how to get your startup going – business plan, registration, permits, legal issues, taxes hiring and of course, funding knowledge and how-to’s. The site has all the information you’ll need to know to effectively navigate all the complexities of asking a venture capital firm for money – and getting it!
8. Harvard Business Review
The Harvard Business Review site has been around as long as the Internet. Affiliated with arguably the best business school in the country, some say the planet, this site has years of business and funding related knowledge to benefit hungry startup owners seeking to get business funding and general advice.
Use the search function to find whatever information you need including advice, surveys, stats, news and commentary about what’s going on in the world of business investing.
9. Bloomberg
A smart startup founder or investor needs to know what’s happening in the world of business investing. Bloomberg delivers news on the big stuff, but if you want to grow your startup into the million and billion-dollar arena, you have to know what the big boys are doing.
The site delivers news on the big movers-and-shakers currently operating in the VC space, on a global level. You’ll also find plenty of advice from experts, including CEOs of the top investment firms around the world, giving insights and tips on valuations, pitch deck delivery, and much more. Check out the site’s startups section too, for advice and inspiration from those who’ve been there and succeeded.
10. LinkedIn
Anyone who works in business should see the benefit of joining this social network for the business-minded. From the perspective of venture capital funding, the benefit should also be clear. You can connect with venture capitalists, angels, and startup founders – check out their profiles, see who their friends are, etc.
Being that it’s a social network, you can see what others are saying about various investment firms if you’re a startup CEO, or new startups if you’re an investor. The LinkedIn blog is also a great resource for finding tips for getting your business off the ground and attracting investors.
So, there you go – ten of the best resources to gain insights, discover opportunities and track trends on everything related to Venture Capital.
Now over to you: Which online VC resources have help you in becoming relevant to the current state of the industry?
