The Six Secrets of Raising Capital

Based on Bill Fisher’s three-day seminars that regularly sell out all over the world, this book offers the kind of capital-raising street smarts no entrepreneur can do without. As a banker in Silicon Valley in the ‘80s and a businessman who founded a number of successful companies beginning in the ‘90s, Fisher has seen firsthand the kind of rookie mistakes aspiring entrepreneurs make that end up stopping them before they have a chance to get started.

Fisher looks at six traditional steps in the capital-raising process and digs beneath the surface to expose subtle but critical aspects of each—knowledge that, until now, could come only with experience. For example, entrepreneurs believe that great business ideas get funded. Not true—just look at the failure rates of venture-backed companies. Great business stories get funded, and all great business stories have a similar construction and shape. And of course the entrepreneur needs an investor, but each investor comes with his or her own personality issues. You need the right match for long-term success, not just whoever is waving the biggest check—a temptation that is easy for cash-strapped entrepreneurs to succumb to. Having this book is like going into your investor meetings with a trusted advisor who knows all the ins and outs of raising capital.Introduction
Secret Number 1: Great Business Ideas Do Not Get funded
Secret Number 2: No investor will read your business plan
Secret Number 3: Money has a personality
Secret Number 4: Dating is your new job
Secret Number 5: Raising Money can cost you your dream
Secret Number 6: The wire closes your deal
Summing Up
Acknowledgments
Index
About the author“I was an investor and board member in one of Bill’s early companies, and I have watched him raise capital for other start-ups as well:  Bill has developed a successful step-by-step approach to raising capital”  
—Tom Proulx, cofounder and CTO, Intuit Inc.

"I’ve partnered with Bill Fisher in promoting entrepreneurial ventures, and he is thoroughly professional when it comes to raising capital.”
—Lorenzo Thione, founder of Bing

“Bill is one of the hidden treasures of Silicon Valley:  thoughtful, extremely experienced in raising capital, and willing to share the lessons he’s learned with younger entrepreneurs” 
—Soul Htite, cofounder and former CTO, Lending Club, and founder and CEO, SinoLending
Bill Fisher is a serial entrepreneur, an international-seed-fund founder, and a former executive vice president with Wells Fargo Bank who managed the Silicon Valley Region and the $12 billion Northern California division. As a cofounder of the Tiburon family of international seed funds, he has realized twenty-one successful exits. He was the founder and CEO of GetSmart.com and Hometown Commercial Capital, and the cofounder of GetMobileEurope.de.