Venture Capital: Master Startup

Funding and Investment Strategies

Overview
Venture Capital has become an attractive asset class, offering diversification and opportunity to many
investors and entrepreneurs. Since 1990, more than 500 European tech companies have crossed the
$1 billion milestone, with over 10% of these “unicorns” established in H1 2022. Many of the technologies
developed by these startups are enabling growth in the very industry that funded those nascent tech
ideas. That's a virtuous cycle worth investing in.

Over the course of seven weeks, you will immerse yourself in venture capital, building confidence in the
language, processes, performance metrics and strategies involved in the entire dealmaking process. This
programme takes the unique approach of providing both the investor and investee perspectives, yielding
a comprehensive view of the entire VC landscape.

Globally, the VC market generated a

record-setting $173.5 billion in 2021
and is projected to grow at a CAGR of
20% over the next decade.
Source: Allied Market Research

Key takeaways
Through this programme, you will learn to:

• Develop fluency with key venture capital concepts and vocabulary.

• Navigate the stages of the VC transaction process from both investor and investee perspectives,
including fundraising, fund set-up, negotiation, portfolio management and exit strategy.
• Examine the key players and roles in the VC ecosystem.
• Apply the principles of the programme to produce a compelling pitch deck that checks all the
right boxes.

1 | Venture Capital: Master Startup Funding and Investment Strategies

Who is this programme for?
This programme is designed for professionals on either side of a venture capital transaction – both
investors, and those seeking early-stage investment capital. The programme content is created to be
most relevant for those with some financial market experience, ranging from from early-career through
mid-career level, and is particularly relevant for the following roles:

Venture capital professionals, including angel investors, high net worth individuals and family
offices seeking to formalise their knowledge and understanding of the VC investing market to
make better decisions and maximise ROI.

Finance professionals, such as portfolio managers, pension/mutual fund managers, traders, risk
and strategy planners seeking to expand their practice into venture capital markets to grow, diversify
and innovate.

Entrepreneurs, founders and senior management of startups and early-growth companies

seeking an understanding and practical toolkit for pitching and securing funding (and possibly
domain expertise) for their venture.

2 | Venture Capital: Master Startup Funding and Investment Strategies

The Imperial advantage

#1 #1 #1 #3
Business
School of
the Year
Career Prospects The Times and Sunday Times For Student Experience QS World University Shortlisted, Times
Guardian University Good University Guide The Times and Sunday Times Rankings – 2022 Higher Education
Guide – 2022 University of the Year – 2022 Good University Guide – 2022 Europe Award – 2021
UK World

As part of Imperial College London, a worldwide
leader in science and technology, Imperial College
Business School Executive Education drives global
business and social transformation through the
fusion of business, technology and an
entrepreneurial mindset.
We combine innovative thinking and insight with
new technology to develop solutions to real-world
issues, benefitting business and improving society.
Our thought leadership is sought by governments,
policymakers and global business leaders, who
often partner with us on research projects. We
consistently rank among the top business schools
in Europe and worldwide. We attract brilliant
minds and provide the environment to foster
innovative and entrepreneurial thinking, resulting
in groundbreaking ideas that unlock business
opportunities.

Our world-leading researchers pioneer practical

solutions, and their research excellence and
long-established capabilities inform our Executive
Education programmes. We create and deliver
remarkable learning experiences with a lasting
positive impact.

3 | Venture Capital: Master Startup Funding and Investment Strategies

How we deliver our programmes

Our programmes are The learning team is Our bespoke learning Our transformational
crafted via rigorous constantly available to framework consistently learning experience is a
planning and assist and support encourages group result of engaging,
interrogation by our participants learning through stimulating and diverse
academics and throughout the community engagement learning media that
pedagogy experts. learning experience. and high-touch social foster real-time feedback
interactions. and interaction.

The participant experience

The hard work and Our participants never Whilst structured, the Our learning design is
dedication required to feel alone in their learning experience is multi-dimensional and
earn the digital learning experience: flexible enough for highly interactive.
certificates through our the platform is built participants to fit their There is a continuous
online programmes is around a deeply studies around their focus on pedagogical
exactly the same as interactive busy lives. variety and live content.
that needed to earn the peer-connected
campus equivalents. environment.

Human
We create people-centric learning experiences.
From conception through to delivery, we are
guided by the principle that learning is a creative,
personal and, above all, human process. Our high
quality, crafted learning environments are highly
interactive, community-orientated and actively
tutored. Our programmes offer an engaging
experience designed to facilitate natural learning
behaviours.
Real
No compromise. Our online programmes offer the
absolute equivalent of our campus-based
programmes. They adopt the same rigorous
academic standards, are delivered via our
world-leading faculty and offer a comparable
high-touch approach to the classroom experience.

4 | Venture Capital: Master Startup Funding and Investment Strategies

The Imperial impact
We have a culture of working across disciplines to bring a diverse and multifaceted point of view to
business challenges. Through our institutes and research centres, we transcend boundaries, uniting
world-leading experts from a variety of research areas. We also engage with international organisations,
SMEs and policy makers around the world, address key challenges for modern business and create
practical solutions with significant real-world impact.

Examples of our institutes and research centres:

Brevan Howard Centre for Financial Analysis
The Centre dramatically enhances Imperial College
Business School’s expertise in financial economics
and strengthens ties with other disciplines,
including engineering and computational finance.
Our purpose is to serve as a bridge between the
Business School and the world of business, to
develop a greater understanding and more efficient
management of risk, and to promote investment
and productivity.
The Leonardo Centre on Business for Society
The Imperial Sustainability Leadership programme
emerges from the Leonardo Centre, which engages
thought leaders across business sectors and
scientific disciplines to originate path-breaking
initiatives for more purposeful, inclusive and
sustainable ways of doing business.
The Data Science Institute (DSI)
The cross-faculty DSI acts as a focal point for
coordinating data science research at Imperial
College London by engaging with global partners,
stimulating collaboration across a broad spectrum
of disciplines, translating research into social and
economic impact and offering an advanced
education programme to train a new generation of
data scientists.
Centre for Financial Technology
Imperial College Business School’s Centre for
Financial Technology has been established to
act as a hub for the interdisciplinary research
that is needed to develop innovations, reveal
insights and answer questions; bringing
together the activities of academics, startup
companies, established industry and
governmental organisations.
The Centre for Responsible Leadership
Drawing on academic theory and business
practice, the centre will focus on helping
businesses and organisations identify
practices that will improve their approach to
leadership and boost overall performance.
Transition to Zero Pollution
One of the first initiatives of Imperial’s
Academic Strategy, it brings together
researchers to build new partnerships that
will help realise a new zero pollution future.

5 | Venture Capital: Master Startup Funding and Investment Strategies

 Programme highlights

Develop the confidence to thrive in the VC community through practical application

exercises that cement the key programme concepts.

Describe the death valley curve for a given data set to manage the cash flow of a
startup company.

Perform a valuation on a fictional target investment, Snoozy, including the total

addressable market, revenue forecasts and assumptions.

Determine a company’s post-money valuation, the share price and the impact
of dilution.

Review the term sheet for a given scenario to provide recommendations on term
structure and points of negotiation.

Analyse a case study to create a term sheet for your offer, a valuation of the business
and a list of exit options.

Create a pitch deck for an entity of your choice that includes all the compelling
elements to convince an investor to make a deal.

6 | Venture
6 | Venture
Capital:
Capital:
MasterMaster
Startup
Startup
Funding
Funding
and Investment
and Investment
Strategies
Strategies
Programme faculty
Marc Kitten, MBA
Partner and Co-Founder, Candesic
Visiting Professor in Finance, Imperial College Business School

Marc has 25 years of experience in financial markets. He serves private equity

funds, financial institutions and corporate entities and manages operations in
continental Europe for Candesic, a strategy consulting firm with deep expertise
in healthcare. Marc is a board member of several high growth companies in
EMEA. He is also an adjunct professor of finance at Imperial College London and
senior lecturer in strategy and finance at Edhec, ESCP-Europe, ENPC Paristech
and Cass Business School.

Prior to joining Candesic, Marc was a senior consultant at McKinsey & Co. and a
Vice-President at Deutsche Bank in Europe. He holds an MBA from Chicago
Booth, completed the Young Managers Programme at INSEAD and graduated
from Edhec Business School in France. Marc speaks fluent French, English and
German, conversational Spanish and Russian, and basic Mandarin.

7 | Venture Capital: Master Startup Funding and Investment Strategies

Guest speakers
Russell Deakin
Russell is an alternative asset executive
with over 25 years of experience in
North America, Europe, South America,
India and China in markets that include
private equity/venture capital, real
estate, infrastructure/renewable energy,
agriculture and credit. He has developed
relationships with senior global
professionals in the LP investor base
and GP fund manager community. For
11 years, he served as CFO/Partner for a
real estate developer, and he has served
as a board member and CFO for
portfolio companies.

Ethan Levner
Ethan was previously a private equity
investor and investment banker. He
serves as a strategic CFO at Setforth, a
software investment company backed
by Aquiline Capital Partners. He has
deep experience driving company
growth and institutionalisation;
automating and scaling the finance
function; leading on M&A, raising equity
and debt, and optimising exits.

8 | Venture Capital: Master Startup Funding and Investment Strategies

What you will learn
The programme delves into a variety of topics that cover the entire deal-making process, including the
various stages of financing; the anatomy of a VC transaction; types of investors and investment
vehicles; deal sourcing and screening; due diligence, value creation and performance monitoring, and
portfolio management and exit strategies. Developing your knowledge and understanding of the VC
market will build confidence and lead to better investment outcomes.

Programme Orientation
Meet the faculty and get an overview of the programme, including certificate requirements, the learning
platform and support resources.

Module 1: The Venture Capital Landscape

Build your foundational understanding of the venture capital landscape, starting with a historical
perspective on the market and outlining the various stages of financing in the lifecycle of a startup.

• Understand how venture capital fits into the broader private equity and capital
markets landscape.
• Learn about the evolution of venture capital, dating back to 1492 with Christopher Columbus.
• Examine the different types of investors and investment vehicles in the VC market.
• Describe the death valley curve for a given data set to manage the cash flow of an organisation.
• Define the various stages of financing and understand the fundamental structure of a fund.
• Address the opportunities and risks for investors.

Module 2: Fund Set-Up and Identifying Investment Opportunities

Just as astute founders select the right VCs for their board, the best fund managers are able to pick
limited partners (LPs) that can add financial and non-financial value, helping to shape their entire
investment journey.

• Examine the different dimensions for evaluating a new investment opportunity using a handy template.
• Identify the characteristics of a good investor and the key skills required to succeed in VC.
• Dissect the structure of a fund, including management fees and other costs; revenue distribution
schedule and key legal documents required.
• Utilize the Business Model Canvas tool to understand how value gets created, where growth
opportunities exist and when to pivot.
• Access tested tools for conducting due diligence, including guides on how to assess (or create) a
business plan – and discover the key ingredient that is too often missing.
• Identify metrics to gauge the success of a startup.

9 | Venture Capital: Master Startup Funding and Investment Strategies

Module 3: Startup Valuation
Assigning a valuation at the VC stage is far more forward-looking and challenging as compared to
established or publicly traded companies, which rely on historical financial measures and other known
fundamental metrics.

• Identify challenges facing entrepreneur—founders regarding their ownership of the company.

• Learn the five most common valuation methods used in the VC arena, noting the pros and
cons of each method.
• Perform a valuation on a target investment using the tools and methods presented in this module.

Module 4: Deal Structure, Terms and Negotiation

A venture term sheet effectively has three “knobs” to turn: valuation, liquidation preference and the
amount of money raised.

• Discuss potential conflicts of interests between the different stakeholders, at various stress points in
the deal, and learn the four mechanisms commonly used to minimise conflicts.
• Develop the discipline to focus on what matters most (to you) in the term sheets while also
understanding what motivates other stakeholders in the deal.
• Determine a company’s post-money valuation, the share price and the impact of dilution.
• Review the term sheet for a given scenario to provide recommendations on term structure and points
of negotiation.
• Analyse a case study to create a term sheet for your offer, a valuation of the business and a list of exit
options.

Module 5: Value Creation: Portfolio Management and Exit Strategies

Success is the result of relentless research, strong convictions and a commitment to deliver value that
can enable a startup to defy the odds and produce supernormal profits.

• Embrace a proven toolkit for executing strategic planning and discipline in volatile and uncertain
environments.
• Identify the common mistakes made by startup managers, and receive recommendations for
avoiding them.
• Compare the key metrics required to assess the performance of a VC fund.
• Explore various exit strategies and scenarios, including some creative combinations.
• Analyse a case study, reflect on an organisation’s key investment risks and offer recommendations.

10 | Venture Capital: Master Startup Funding and Investment Strategies

Module 6: Future of Venture Capital in Developed and Developing Markets
Record-setting investments in startups are likely to bring in more competition on both sides of the
dealmaking process. Get an insider’s perspective on what lies ahead for this fast-growing, dynamic
market.

• Explore the trends in VC across sectors, geographies, and funding stages.

• Learn about potential risks and drivers for PE investments in emerging economies.
• Explore the many ways that technology is impacting the VC market (in both target startups and in
VC practice).
• Draw upon all the skills and knowledge conveyed in the programme to complete the capstone project.

10 | Venture Capital: Master Startup Funding and Investment Strategies

11
Capstone project
Regardless of the role you play in the VC ecosystem, there is merit in being persuasive and on-point.
The programme culminates in the creation of a pitch deck seeking Series A (or later) funding for an
entity of your choice. You will be provided with several templates as a starting point along with various
elements to be included in the pitch-deck.

Case studies
Apply the key concepts from the programme by examining different cases across a variety of
industries and geographies, making this a highly practical learning experience. Each case will be
debriefed in an interactive live session with the faculty or learning facilitator.

Rocket Internet: How Long Can We Continue to Lose Money?

Created by Professor Marc Kitten, this case explores the very unique business model of
Rocket Internet. The German-based company incubates and invests in internet and
technology companies globally, targeting startups with extraordinary founders and the
potential to start – and lead – new categories. Their portfolio includes more than 200
companies with a total valuation of approximately €30 billion.

Katerra: Constructing Growth Opportunities Through Technology

The Katerra case takes a deep dive into the opportunities to leverage disruptive
technology in the global construction industry. The case analyses the history of Katerra,
a technology-driven off-site construction company and walks through each of the
company's major strengths and opportunities.

Scrub Daddy: Pitching for a Clean Deal

As featured on season four of Shark Tank, a bidding war breaks out during Scrub
Daddy’s pitch to the celebrity VCs. Aaron Krause is seeking $100,000 for a 10 percent
stake in his company, Scrub Daddy, an innovative cleaning accessories startup. Put
yourself in the shoes of both the founder and the investors through exercises dealing
with scenario planning, valuation and exit options.

Sula Vineyards: Growing the Grapevine

After quitting his corporate job at Oracle in California, Stanford-graduate Rajeev Samant
returned to India to establish Sula Vineyards. Today, Sula is considered a true pioneer
in Indian winemaking and has achieved many milestones in the last few decades.
But in 2002, it was in a seedling state. Put yourself in the shoes of an investor to
address valuation, the shareholder’s agreement, key assumptions, and an ongoing
management role.

12 | Venture Capital: Master Startup Funding and Investment Strategies

A learning experience unlike any other
Over the course of seven weeks, you will participate in a singular, immersive learning experience that
blends readings, simulations, industry insights and interactive assignments – with faculty from a global
top 10 university in Europe and the world.

Orientation
Introduce yourself to other participants from across the globe, explore the learning
management system and become familiar with the learning tools provided.

Video lectures
Recorded video lectures are conducted by programme faculty. Dynamic and engaging, lectures
are designed to reinforce learning.

Insights from guest speakers

The programme features industry guest speakers who offer their perspectives on
raising capital, scaling the finance function and optimising exits.

Continuous programme access

You will continue to have access to the programme videos and learning material for up to 12
months after the programme end date.

Knowledge checks
Complete a series of bite-sized activities to test your knowledge of core concepts week by week.

Weekly assignments
Suggested reading, lectures, activities and programme content will expand your understanding
of the module topics and aid in the completion of weekly assignments. You will complete
module-based assignments and reflect on your learnings in a playbook.

13 | Venture Capital: Master Startup Funding and Investment Strategies

Certificate
Upon completion of the programme, Imperial College Business School Executive
participants will be awarded a verified Education is collaborating with online education
digital certificate by Imperial College provider Emeritus to offer online programmes.
Business School Executive Education. This allows us to broaden access in a
collaborative and innovative format that stays true
to our content, distinctive methods of learning and
outstanding quality.

Programme details

P LE 7 weeks, online

M
This is to certify that

SA
Your Name

has successfully completed the Executive Education Programme

Venture Capital:Master Startup Funding and

Investment Strategies

Month Year
4—6 hours per week

Programme Director Dean at Imperial College Business School

£1,450
Imperial College London
Flexible payment options and financing plans are available.

14 | Venture Capital: Master Startup Funding and Investment Strategies

Schedule a call with a Programme
Advisor to learn how this programme
can help you.

SCHEDULE A CALL

Apply for the programme here.

APPLY NOW

Prospective participants with questions about

the programme are encouraged to contact
Emeritus for further information.

E: imperial@emeritus.org
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US: +1 315 897 5158
SG: +65 3129 5150

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