Venture Capital Guide to Term Sheets for CEOs and CFOs

Research and Markets, an international market research source, is running a Video Leadership Seminar, to provide executives with critical information on negotiating term sheets.

A “Term Sheet” is a summary of the terms the proposer is prepared to accept. Analogous to a letter of intent, it is a nonbinding outline of the principal points which the formal legal documents will cover in detail.

The Term Sheet is circulated prior to the negotiation of a venture capital investment.

The Term Sheet Video Leadership Seminar DVD created by Research and Markets is viewable on any computer or Video iPod and features 80 minutes of live video with Heather M. Stone of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP sharing her best practices. These are the eight key areas CEOs and CFOs need to pay the most attention to when negotiating and signing a term sheet with investors.

The Video Leadership Seminar provides an inside look at negotiation strategies for the management team and the best case scenarios for each of the major clauses in the term sheet.

Topics covered in the Video Leadership Seminar include:

1) Step by step analysis of the 10 most important deal points;

2) Specific negotiation strategies for getting your best case scenario in each of these 10 areas;

3) Due diligence steps you should take before signing a term sheet;

4) Problem areas to avoid in term sheets;

5) Key provisions to include in a term sheet to make future financings or exit strategies more efficient and profitable;

6) Understanding east coast versus west coast differences in term sheets and structurings;

7) Roles and motivations of each party and how you can use this to your advantage;

8) Case Studies of specific situations and what you should learn from them

For more information, see What a CEO and CFO need to know before signing a Term Sheet

Heather Stone focuses on private equity and venture capital and is Chair of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodges Fund Formation practice group. She has over 13 years of experience in a range of domestic and cross-border corporate and securities transactions and fund formation work. Heather has represented many private equity firms, as well as many growth-oriented software, emerging technology and media companies in all stages of development, from start-ups to multi-national public companies.

In 2001, Stone was voted by Digital Industry as the “Best General Lawyer for a High-Tech Firm,” and has been designated a “Super Lawyer” by Law & Politics and Boston Magazine. She has published articles about private equity, corporate finance and mergers & acquisitions in American Venture and Womens Business. She teaches for the Kauffman Fellows Program, Duke Universitys Fuqua School of Business, Babson Colleges MBA program and at MITs Sloan School of Business.

Alan Gray is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of NewsBlaze Daily News and other online newspapers. He prefers to edit, rather than write, but sometimes an issue rears it’s head and makes him start hammering away on the keyboard.

Content Expertise

Alan has been on the internet since it first started. He loves to use his expertise in content and digital marketing to help businesses grow, through managed content services. After living in the United States for 15 years, he is now in South Australia. To learn more about how Alan can help you with content marketing and managed content services, contact him by email.

Technical Expertise

Alan is also a techie. His father was a British soldier in the 4th Indian Division in WWII, with Sikhs and Gurkhas. He was a sergeant in signals and after that, he was a printer who typeset magazines and books on his linotype machine. Those skills were passed on to Alan and his brothers, who all worked for Telecom Australia, on more advanced signals (communications). After studying electronics, communications, and computing at college, and building and repairing all kinds of electronics, Alan switched to programming and team building and management.

He has a fascination with shooting video footage and video editing, so watch out if he points his Canon 7d in your direction.