On day two of our romp through the table of contents of Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist, we cover the various players involved.

While it might seem like there are only two players in the financing dance—the entrepreneur and the venture capitalist—there are often others, including angel investors, lawyers, and mentors. Any entrepreneur who has created a company that has gone through multiple financings knows that the number of people involved can quickly spiral out of control, especially if you aren’t sure who actually is making the decisions at each step along the way.

The experience, motivation, and relative power of each participant in a financing can be complex, and the implications are often mysterious. Let’s begin our journey to understanding venture capital financings by making sure we understand each player and the dynamics surrounding the participants.

In Chapter 1, we describe and discuss the entrepreneur, venture capitalist, angel investor, syndicate, lawyer, and mentor. Every book, framework, and deal needs a place to start – knowing the players is the one we thought was best.