1- Arrange the different parts of the article.

Then complete with the right headings:

Stages of business that venture capitalist truly care about-what is venture capital?-what kinds of
businesses a venture capitalist would invest in?-

According to the National Venture Capital Association or the NVCA, venture capitalists actually
spend more than $22 billion on companies in the United States alone. This is why Venture
Capital or VC is becoming more popular to startup business owners.
Venture capitalists are drawn to businesses that they see with high potential. It’s considered as
……………………………. so not really anybody can be a venture capitalist. These people are
already high-earners and established in the business industry.
It doesn’t really mean that these venture capitalists only help fund a business that is not even
existing yet. There are stages in a business wherein a venture capitalist can get involved, but
before we tell you about those, what really is this form of investment?
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Venture Capital just really means having an investor or investors fund or help a person in the
process of starting up a business. VC doesn’t just really mean that the investors would only
financially help. The help could also be in the form of training or management handling.
This is a form of a high-risk investment because venture capitalists are actually spending
money on businesses with potential rather than an established reputation. It’s common for
these venture capitalists to end up losing some money from time to time.
This is why most venture capitalists …………………... They just really make sure that one
or a few businesses they invested in could help return their losses from the businesses that
didn’t really work out.
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There’s really no specific answer to this. What’s common is that venture capitalists are into
businesses that they see as ground-breaking. There are many VC firms out there like ErGo
Ventures LLC, which is owned by Erik H. Gordon, but up until now, these firms haven’t really
published specific qualifications.
However, here are a few points that these firms look at to assess whether your project or
business is worth their time and money:
The nature of the business – There’s really no wrong answer here. This alone is a good
way to assess whether the business or project idea will hit it off once it’s rolled out. It’s
typical for venture capitalists to go for business ideas that are current but crazy projects
could also be enticing to them if they woke up feeling risky on the day they decide to help
a business or not.
Area or Areas ……………………………………… – will the business cater to local and
international customers? Most likely, VC firms are in the know where the hotspots are for
certain businesses as this is also something that they study.
Growth rate – the project or business owner will be asked about his or her plans for
expansion. Is the goal to expand as soon as possible or would it be a slow process?
These are just some of the possible aspects that venture capitalists would take a look at if a
person is applying for support. The owners will definitely be required to do a presentation of
their plans for the business and its future so the planning is very crucial.
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So these investors are not just present to fund a project and actually make it happen. They are
actually after the output they could get until the final stage of the startup business. Here are the
four stages that venture capitalists closely monitor.
Seed Funding or Stage – this is the very start of the business or when the investor helps
the business off the ground
Early Stage or Series A – this is when people are starting to buy the business’s products
or services
Growth Stage or Series B – this is when the business or company starts to earn big
revenues
Series C – this is the stage when the company is ready to operate globally, or the owners
are ready to place their business in the stocks market.
Conclusion
Truly, not all business or project owners are allowed by any banks to get a loan to start their
business, and this is why a lot of them turn to Venture Capital firms. ……………………………………………….
you really need to take your time to prepare for your presentation.
You need to be able to answer the questions thrown by the potential investors. It’s also
important that you don’t fixate on a specific standard as it could be harmful to believe that
venture capitalists are only after a specific idea.

2- Complete the blank spaces with the following extracts:

Fund multiple projects-Where the business will operate-If you find yourself seeking the help of a VC
firm,-high risk investment-
3- While you read underline any linking words you find within and between sentences.

4- Re-read the article and answer.

a- What is the meaning of VC and NVCA?

b- Can anyone be a venture capitalist? Why?
c- What do venture capitalists do so as not to lose a lot of money?
d- What points do venture capitalists look to assess a project?
e- What will the owners of the project have to do to get the capital?
f- At what stage can a business start operating globally?

5- Read the words in bold. What do they refer to?

This____________

It______________

They_____________

Which_________

6- Can you find any word families?

Invest: _____ _______
7- What words or collocations can you find with the word business?
Example: start-up business,

What skills do you think you would need to be successful in venture capitalism?

Would you be good at it?