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Nicholas Lovell
Home   >   50 questions   >   The 50 questions homepage

The 50 questions homepage

By on December 3, 2010

Together with Nic Brisbourne of The Equity Kicker / DFJ Esprit, I am writing a series of 50 questions you should ask when raising venture capital. We expect the series to run for a year, after which we will collate the answers into a book. We view this as a collaboration, so please comment to help make this series even more useful.

This is the home page for 50 questions. Here you can find out far we are through the questions, and follow links to them all, whether they are on the Equity Kicker or on GAMESbrief.

Or check out the full list of questions we plan to answer (and provide some of your own)

The questions so far

      1. What exactly is an “investor”?– GAMESbrief, November 10th, 2010
      2. What is venture capital? – The Equity Kicker, November 10th, 2010
      3. Is venture capital right for your company? – The Equity Kicker, November 18th, 2010
      4. What are the different types of early stage funder? – GAMESbrief, November 24th, 2010
      5. Where do VCs get their money from? – The Equity Kicker, December 1st, 2010
      6. What’s the difference between Seed, Series A and Series B – GAMESbrief, December 9th, 2010
      7. What does an LP look for in a venture capital fund manager? – The Equity Kicker, December 16th, 2010
      8. What’s the difference between Angels, VCs and strategic investors? – GAMESbrief, January 6th 2011
      9. How does the structure of the venture capital industry impact investment strategy? – The Equity Kicker, 12th January, 2011
      10. How long will it take me to raise venture capital? – The Equity Kicker, 26th January, 2011
      11. What is product/market fit, and why does it matter to your startup? – GAMESbrief, 9th February, 2011
      12. Why too much money will kill your company– GAMESbrief, 16th February, 2011
      13. What can I do to control the timetable/reduce the time it takes to raise venture capital? – The Equity Kicker, 16th February, 2011
      14. How does a VC value a business? –  The Equity Kicker, 2nd March, 2011
      15. How much money should I raise? – GAMESbrief, 9th March, 2011
      16. How does a VC estimate market size? – The Equity Kicker, 16th March, 2011
      17. What are the alternatives to venture capital? – GAMESbrief, 23rd March, 2011
      18. How does a VC evaluate a company’s product? – The Equity Kicker, 31st March, 2011
      19. How does a VC evaluate a management team? – The Equity Kicker, 20th April 2011
      20. What makes a good investor? – GAMESbrief, 27th April 2011
      21. How does a VC think about an exit strategy? The Equity Kicker, 4th May 2011
      22. How does a VC consider barriers to entry? The Equity Kicker, 18th May 2011
      23. What does a VC care about? – GAMESbrief, 25th May 2011
      24. How does a VC consider competition?-The Equity Kicker, 1st June 2011
      25. Should I hire an adviser? – GAMESbrief, 6th June 2011
      26. What is the best way to approach a VC? – The Equity Kicker, 15th June 2011
      27. What is the first document I should put in front of a VC? – The Equity Kicker, 29th June 2011
      28. What should I put in my business plan? – The Equity Kicker, 13th July 2011
      29. If you’re raising money, what questions should you ask the venture capitalist? – GAMESbrief, 20th July 2011
      30. What are the most common mistakes in a business plan? – The Equity Kicker, 10th August 2011
      31. What are the key terms in a termsheet? (part 1) – The Equity Kicker, 24th August 2011
      32. Should I seek a strategic investor? – GAMESbrief, 31st August 2011
      33. What are the key terms in a termsheet? (part 2) – The Equity Kicker, 8th September 2011
      34. Should I ever pay to pitch? – GAMESbrief, 15th September 2011
      35. What are the different types of instruments VCs use to invest? GAMESbrief, 22nd September 2011
      36. What is anti-dilution/downround protection? The Equity Kicker, 6th October 2011
      37. What should I try to achieve in the first meeting? GAMESbrief, 12th October 2011
      38. How should an entrepreneur approach negotiation of key terms? The Equity Kicker, 18th October 2011
      39. What are the five biggest pitfalls to avoid during negotiations? The Equity Kicker, 2nd November 2011
      40. Will a VC bring in a pro CEO once the round is closed? The Equity Kicker, 16th November 2011
      41. What are five killer things I can do to improve my chances of funding? The Equity Kicker, 30th November 2011
      42. How do VCs make investment decisions? The Equity Kicker, 14th December 2011
      43. Do I need “competitive tension” in my fundraising process? Gamesbrief, 25th January 2012
      44. How can I tell that a VC won’t invest? The Equity Kicker, 18th January 2012
      45. How does a VC evaluate a company’s product? The Equity Kicker, February 8th 2012
      46. What financial information does a VC want to see? The Equity Kicker, February 23rd 2012
      47. What should an entrepreneur be looking to get out of a first pitch meeting with a VC? The Equity Kicker, March 1st 2012
      48. Should I let my lawyer negotiate the deal?The Equity Kicker, March 7th 2012
      49. To what extent should I encourage competition between VCs?The Equity Kicker, March 21st 2012

About Nicholas Lovell

Nicholas is the founder of Gamesbrief, a blog dedicated to the business of games. It aims to be informative, authoritative and above all helpful to developers grappling with business strategy. He is the author of a growing list of books about making money in the games industry and other digital media, including How to Publish a Game and Design Rules for Free-to-Play Games, and Penguin-published title The Curve: thecurveonline.com