Venture Capital Courses

Venture capital, or “VC,” is a type of private equity financing that provides early-stage capital for innovative companies with high growth potential. This is an important source of entrepreneurial finance for startup companies that lack a sufficient track record for financing from traditional banks, and an initial “seed funding” round may be followed by Series A, Series B, and subsequent follow-on investment rounds as the company grows.

In exchange for making these risky investments, a VC firm typically takes a large equity stake and may often sit on the board of a startup. This can make VCs important stakeholders in a startup’s development beyond just their provision of financing, and some startup founders may choose to look for alternative sources of early-stage funding such as angel investors or crowdfunding in order to maintain more control over their company.

However, venture capital financing will remain a critical part of the startup funding landscape for the foreseeable future. According to the National Venture Capital Association’s annual yearbook, there are 1,328 active U.S. VC firms representing $444 billion in combined assets under management - nearly as much as the largest U.S. private equity firms. Moreover, the unique expertise and strategic guidance that VC firms can provide, as well as connections to other investors, startups, and potential employees, is worth the sacrifice in equity and control for many entrepreneurs.‎

Anyone with an interest in entrepreneurship needs to be familiar with the venture capital landscape, including both the pros and the cons of taking on VC investment. According to the National Venture Capital Association’s annual yearbook, VC-backed companies comprised 42% of all U.S. IPOs from 1974 to 2014 - and in 2019, they accounted for 43% of all U.S. IPOs, with a total valuation of $223 billion. Thus, while VC isn’t an essential path to take for entrepreneurial financing, it is an option that cannot be ignored.

Alternately, if you want to work at a VC firm yourself, you can pursue a career as a financial analyst. Like other financial institutions, VC firms employ analysts to evaluate companies and help make investment recommendations, and these analysts typically develop expertise in a specific industry or geographic region. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, financial analysts working in securities and other financial investments made a median wage of $101,410 in May 2018, making this a high-paying start to a career in venture capital.‎

Yes, Coursera offers many courses as well as Specializations in finance, including venture capital and other startup funding pathways. You can learn about venture capital remotely from top-ranked schools such as Duke University and the University of Pennsylvania, ensuring that you won’t have to sacrifice the quality of your education to learn online. The ability to complete coursework on a flexible schedule is a particularly ideal fit for entrepreneurs, who can also learn about relevant topics in business, computer science, and other areas through Coursera.‎

The skills and experience that you might need to already have before starting to learn venture capital include areas like financial smarts, in-depth knowledge of how start-ups get funding, and possible work experience in financial jobs, banking, or start-ups. Because venture capital is a business that provides capital funding to mostly early-stage companies, a higher element of risk is usually involved for venture capital lenders. However, the rewards may also be greater if the businesses they lend to achieve great success. Learning about venture capital can be a rewarding experience, especially if you know someone already in the industry to help you better understand how companies deal with venture capital lenders.‎

The kind of people best suited for work that involves venture capital generally are analytical, detail-oriented, and have a strong understanding of technology and financial concepts. Venture capitalists must also have extremely good people skills, as they generally meet often with many different smart entrepreneurs to learn about their ideas and companies. To do this regularly, they need to be attentive, understanding, and patient. Today’s venture capitalists are usually well-read and deeply insightful about the latest trends in the industries they invest in. Being computer literate is very important for people best suited for work in venture capital, as these people spend a good part of their day reviewing presentations, charts, and spreadsheets.‎

You might know if learning venture capital is right for you if you're extremely passionate about startups and other early-stage companies, and want to be involved in building a network and leveraging those contacts to help other startups grow in the future. To do this, it would help to be ""where the VC action is"" and that could be in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Austin, New York, and other areas ripe with young companies looking for funding. Apart from the importance of a start-up community network, you might know if venture capital is right for you if you are passionate about ideas, innovations, the internet, and more. Learning venture capital can be a tremendous education, one that will suit you well into the future.‎