Term Sheets Series Introduction (Classic)


We continue our Venture Files Classics Series – posts written by Steven Fisher prior to Venture Files joining Technosailor.com – that are either great analysis pieces, or have offered some level of prediction accuracy… Or simply, they are of interest to this audience. In this case, Steve wrote a great series on Term Sheets from an entrepreneurs perspective. This was the introductory article and was originally published on March 8, 2006.

I have read Brad Feld’s blog “Feld Thoughts” for some time now.

Although I haven’t met him in person, I have exchanged e-mails a number of times and will say that he is a very insightful guy. I hope to move to Denver or buy a place there soon, so I owe him a beer for all his good advice.

Plus he is a huge 24 fan like me, so that gives him the extra gold star.

About a year ago, he started a series on “Term Sheets”. It is located here and it is what I will mirror in its structure. Why mess with a good thing, right?

I will link to it in my entries as reference and will probably quote it.

What I am looking to do is expand upon it and comment on each of these things from the Entrepreneur’s point of view.

I know Brad was an Entrepreneur, and a darn good one, but he wrote it from the VC’s perspective and is an awesome foundation to work with.

Each week I will take a topic as part of the “VC Speak” area of this blog. This is in addition to any other “VC Speak” stuff that comes along. In any regards think of this like a mini-course in Venture Funding with getting the MBA.

Please share this with all your fellow entrepreneurs in the hope they might learn something new, laugh in agreement or lament at our shared experiences. I really look forward to you comments as a form of group therapy.

Editors Note: Steven and I have a mutual respect for Brad Feld. Feld is a principal investor with the Foundry Group, based in Boulder, CO. In full disclosure, Brad is also an investor at Lijit where I (Aaron) work as a consultant. This article was written long before there was any other relationship.