vc fundamentals.

Venture capital is a pool of other people's money invested into companies that probably shouldn't exist yet. Here's what it really is, who's on the other side of the table, and what they want.

Management fees, carry, fund returns, the math behind 'returning the fund'. The economics of a VC fund explained at the level a founder needs.

Limited Partners, General Partners, principals, associates, scouts. A map of who does what inside a venture firm — and why it matters when you're pitching.

The single most important fact about venture capital: most investments return zero, and a tiny number return everything. Here's how that maths shapes every decision a partner makes.

TAM, SAM, SOM — the three letters founders most often get wrong on a pitch deck. Here's how partners actually evaluate market size, and why bottom-up wins every time.

A founder's map of every investor type — what they invest in, what cheque sizes, what to expect, and which ones are right for your stage and round.

Why a $50m seed fund and a $2bn multi-stage fund behave completely differently — and how to use a fund's size to predict whether they'll actually engage with your round.

A clear walkthrough of every venture stage — pre-seed, seed, Series A through F, growth, IPO — what each round means, what investors expect, and how the company changes between them.

How investors actually find the companies they invest in — warm intros, scout networks, conferences, marketplaces, and increasingly, agents. And how to position yourself in their path.

A direct framework for deciding whether to take VC money — what it costs you, what it buys you, and the specific signs that another funding path would be a better fit.

Every venture fund operates on a 10-year clock — invest for the first 3-5 years, harvest for the rest. Here's how that timeline shapes every behaviour you'll see from your investors.

How venture funds decide how many investments to make, how big each should be, and how to reserve for follow-ons. Understanding portfolio construction helps you predict how an investor will treat you.