Take the Money and Run! An Insider's Guide to Venture Capital

This book is for entrepreneurs who want to realize their vision, want to build a major enterprise, and want to change the world. To do that, you'll need two things: cash and speed. You'll need to get the money, and then run like mad before a big existing competitor slows you down, or another fast-moving start-up runs up your tailpipe.
To get the money, you may want to consider raising money from institutional investors, the venture capital firms. The good news is that venture-backed companies rank among the most successful enterprises ever created. The bad news is far fewer than 1 in 100 companies approaching venture capitalists ever get to "take the money."
So, the first section of this book gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how venture capital firms work, and much more importantly how they think. You'll get first-hand insight into what things you can do to improve your chances and the things to avoid that can doom your hopes.
The second section of the book will help you "run." It is a series of short pieces of advice covering almost every segment of start-up operations, from product development to financing to staffing to sales and marketing. The chapters catalog some of the best start-up practices seen over the last 20 years, and also some of the biggest errors made.
Gerry Langeler's deep experience as a successful venture capitalist for two decades, and a very successful entrepreneur who raised venture capital from top VC firms, provides the secrets to help entrepreneurs achieve their dreams.
Best of luck on your journey!

For over 20 years, Gerry has served as a Managing Director with OVP Venture Partners, the most successful venture capital firm in the Pacific Northwest. OVP is in its 30th year, having raised its seventh fund (OVP VII) at $250 million. OVP has over $750 million of capital under management and focuses on early-stage companies in clean tech, digital biology, and information technology.
Since 1983, the partnership has backed over 125 start-ups – and seen over 55 liquidity events including 25 IPOs, and over 30 others being acquired by public companies. From 1981 to 1992, Gerry was co-founder of Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ: MENT) where he served as President. He helped lead Mentor to over $400M in sales and $1B in market capitalization, ranking it as one of the largest and most profitable of all U.S. companies founded in the 1980s. At now over $1B in sales, Mentor remains the second largest software company in the Pacific Northwest.
His service as a board member covers the range from energy, enterprise software, network security, and wireless communications to biotechnology.
He is the author of The Success Matrix - Winning in Business and in Life, scheduled for publication March 1, 2014 (Logos Press), as well as The Vision Trap (Harvard Business Review, 3/92), which continues to be widely used in business schools and corporate training sessions.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors of CradlePoint, DataSphere, EnerG2, Novomer, Precision Demand and Serus.
Gerry served six years in the US Air Force Reserves where he was awarded the American Spirit Honor Medal. He was elected to and served as School Board Chair of the Riverdale School District. He previously chaired the Riverdale School Foundation. He served as Chair of the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry (OMSI) Board of Trustees, and Chair of the State of Oregon Facilities Authority – a bonding agency for not-for-profits. In 2011, the was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network. In 2012, he was appointed by Oregon Governor Kitzhaber to the newly-formed Oregon Growth Board, where he serves as co-chair.
He holds a BA, Chemistry from Cornell University, and a MBA from Harvard.