How deals get made
The way VC deals are analyzed, vetted, and made — start to finish.
The Problem
Despite the outsized importance of venture capital, the inner workings remain hidden.
Until now.
The Framework
The Venture Capital Investment Framework
A repeatable lens for evaluating any startup. Five pillars that turn instinct into a process you can run on every deal.
Inside the Book
What you'll learn
An incisive, practical handbook for the world of venture capital.
The questions VCs ask
What successful investors ask founders, and why those questions matter.
The VC mindset
The thinking that dominates the most prominent venture investors.
Breaking in
The best ways to begin a career in venture — and tips on building it.
Multi-stage vs. boutique
Key differences between firm types and what they mean for founders.
Early vs. late stage
The different factors VCs use to evaluate companies at each stage.
The Author
A decade in venture — from an entry-level seat to Managing Partner.
William Lin spent over a decade in venture capital, helping to start a leading VC firm from scratch and eventually becoming Managing Partner. In The VC Field Guide, he shares the framework he built to help any investor, entrepreneur, or operator make better startup decisions, quicker.
Praise
Praise for The VC Field Guide
From the investors, allocators, and educators who do the work.
4.4 from 11 ratings on Amazon
“
I hear this question from LPs, entrepreneurs, and MBAs all the time: "How do you decide on the valuation of a startup when there is no historical data to go by?" The Venture Capital Investment Framework (VCIF), anchored on six areas of questioning, is flexible enough to adjust to any industry vertical and provides a solid foundation to anyone thinking about startups.
Claudia Zeisberger
Professor of Entrepreneurship at INSEAD; Founder, Global Private Equity Initiative; Author of Mastering Private Equity
“
One of the most important skills in venture capital is asking the right questions. It took me a long time to learn the questions that matter and to ask them in a sophisticated way. The VCIF is a great foundation for any VC to start defining and refining the questions they need to ask to become a successful investor.
Jai Das
President, Partner & Co-Founder at Sapphire Ventures
“
I unconsciously used the VCIF when I led the early round in Zoom and others. The Zoom team (who) built a product that worked flawlessly (what) on mobile devices (when and why) and significantly expanded the TAM (where and how). This framework also applies to other aspects of the startup ecosystem, whether you are starting a company or acquiring one.
Nagraj Kashyap
Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisors; Founder of M12, Microsoft's Venture Fund
“
Understanding how fund partners select portfolio companies can provide critical insights into their ability to generate strong returns. By providing a structured and systematic approach to evaluating startups, William Lin's VCIF is an invaluable tool for allocators when performing fund manager due diligence. It is a must-read for any LP looking to invest in venture capital funds.
Ziad Sarkis
Alternative Investments Research Director & Lecturer at the Wharton School; Advisor to Allocators and Alternative Investments Funds
Reader Reviews
What readers are saying
★★★★★ Verified Amazon Reviewer
I really liked listening to this book to learn so many important things about how VCs make their investments. This was super helpful for me to get their perspective as I seek funding as a first-time founder.
"Highly recommend this book for anyone looking to learn more about VCs or get funding from VCs."
Key points that resonated
The 4 Ts
Team Tech TAM Timing
Basic questions & their timing
1
Who — Team fit — can the founding team work together well
Pre-seed 2
What — Team–problem fit — is the team a good fit for the problem
Seed 3
When — Timing–problem fit — has the team proven the "why now"
Series A 4
Where — Market–problem fit — size of the problem and long-term strategy
Series B 5
Why — Product–market fit — does the product solve the need, and how well
Series C 6
How — Scale–market fit — has the company scaled toward IPO
Growth For someone interested in VC, but with 0 understanding of how the VC industry works, this book did an incredible job of what VCs emphasize when they are pitched a company. The way VCs invest is very gate kept, but this book shines great light on the industry. This book explains concepts in a manner that allows anyone to understand it! Also, I read the book in 1 day as well! 10/10 would recommend!
Comprehensive and easy to understand guide to VCs. Must read.
Questions & Answers
Frequently asked questions
What is The VC Field Guide about?
The VC Field Guide: Fundamentals of Venture Capital is a book by William Lin, published by Wiley in 2023. It explains how venture capitalists evaluate startups, breaking venture investing into a repeatable framework that covers the market, the team, the product, the deal, and the investor mindset.
Who should read The VC Field Guide?
It is written for aspiring and practicing venture capitalists, founders preparing to raise capital, operators, and anyone who wants a practical, repeatable way to understand how venture capital decisions actually get made.
What is the venture capital investment framework in the book?
The framework evaluates a startup across five dimensions: the Market (whether it is large enough and the timing is right), the Team (founder-market fit, execution, and judgment), the Product (differentiation and genuine customer pull), the Deal (valuation, ownership, and terms), and the Mindset (reasoning clearly about uncertainty and asymmetric outcomes).
Who is William Lin, the author?
William Lin is a venture capital investor and Managing Partner who spent over a decade in venture capital, helping to build Forgepoint Capital from scratch. He wrote The VC Field Guide to distill the investment framework he developed across years of evaluating founders, markets, products, and deals.
Where can I buy The VC Field Guide?
The book is available on Amazon and from its publisher, Wiley. A free sample excerpt can be read through Amazon. The ISBN-13 is 9781394180653.
When was The VC Field Guide published, and who published it?
The VC Field Guide was published by Wiley (John Wiley & Sons) in 2023. Its full title is The VC Field Guide: Fundamentals of Venture Capital and its ISBN-13 is 9781394180653.
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