Resources for Startups
Industry, Market Data and Financial Analyses
Jackson Business Library, Stanford - If you are in the Bay Area, you'll find a wealth of information at the Jackson Library at Stanford, located at the Graduate School of Business. Bring a photo ID to get free access if you aren't part of Stanford. (Some of the online databases are only available to Stanford students and faculty.) Jackson has Galante's Guide (see below). Socrates is a searchable catalog of the holdings at Jackson and other Stanford libraries. For people not in the Bay Area, check out your local university's business library for similar material.Industry Analysts - Industry analysts, such as those who write fee-based reports or newsletters, can be good sources of information. Since they sell their publications, if you want something free such as info on markets sizes and volumes, be prepared to share your insights on market trends, different companies and their products, and so forth.
Google Alerts - a great way to track topics and company news
SEC EDGAR database - SEC filings of publicly traded companies. This is an excellent source for estimating the financial and operational metrics for companies in similar fields to yours. Your metrics (such as financial ratios) should be in the same range as your competitors unless you have a very well-reasoned explanation for why yours will be different.
Investment bank's analyst reports - Another great source of key metrics for different business types. Many investment banks will add you to the email lists for at least some of their research if you contact the analysts who write the reports for your business area. University business libraries often have research reports, and the brokerage firm you use personally may also have reports available.
Investors & Investment Details
Dow Jones Galante's Venture Capital & Private Equity Directory - This is a good guide to VCs and PE firms, especially since it lists the size and closing dates for each fund within each VC or PE firm. It is expensive to buy, but is available at Stanford's Jackson Business Library. If you aren't in the Bay Area, check university and public libraries.Pratt's Guide to Venture Capital is another popular directory, also expensive to buy, but often available at university or public libraries. Last time I looked at this (a few years ago), it did not have the size and closing date of each fund within a VC or PE firm, which is why I prefer Galante's Guide.
Dow Jones VentureSource is a subscription service that provides details on companies, including size, timing and (often) valuation of each of their fundraisings. In pricing your deal, it is very useful to see what comparable deals raised and were priced at. It is also helpful for giving guidance on what your future rounds might be priced at, so you can calculate your dilution through exit.
The Funded - Feedback on VCs, from entrepreneurs who have interacted with them. Take it with a grain of salt because VCs will say "no" 100 times for every "yes", and no one likes rejection.
PricewaterhouseCoopers / NVCA MoneyTree - Information on recent fundings. A great place to start to see which VCs are actively investing in your business area and what typical deal sizes are.
Startup Company Lawyer - Personal web site of Yoichiro (”Yokum”) Taku, a WSGR lawyer. This is a great site for doing your homework on deal structures so when you sit down with your lawyer you can make efficient use of his/her time. The site includes current and past WSGR reports on Recent Funding Terms.
PEHUB is a website with news and commentary on private equity and venture capital.
Recent Funding Terms - Many law firms active in venture financings publish surveys of current financing trends, including trends in terms. You can find some of them here: Cooley Godward ("Private Company Financings Report"), Fenwick & West ("Trends in Terms of Venture Financings"), WSGR ("Entrepreneur's Report").
National Venture Capital Association - the NVCA web site has lots of useful info, including a searchable list of member VC firms, funding statistics and template legal agreements for many of the key financing documents. If you are a first-time entrepreneur, now is the time to read these legal documents and learn about the material they cover. In the heat of a financing, you will not have the time to learn about these issues and simultaneously be able to negotiate the best deal.
Web-based Start-up Toolkit (Term Sheets, Forms and Events) provided by the legal firm Orrick and Term Sheet Builder from the legal firm WSGR. While these forms and term sheets will give you a sense of what is customary, you should discuss the documents with a lawyer before actually using them.
Legal
See above Investing section for legal resources related to deal structures and investing.Many law firms have free email lists that you can subscribe to in order to receive updates on various areas of law. Here are a few sites: Latham & Watkins, Mintz Levin, Morrison Foerster, Stoel Rives, WSGR (downloadable briefings)