As a banker in Silicon Valley in the 80s, and an entrepreneur who founded a number of successful companies beginning in the 90s, Bill Fisher has seen first-hand that raising capital is the most important part of the startup process. Regardless of vision, motivation, and commitment to social responsibility, nothing will happen without capital. But most entrepreneurs continue to make rookie mistakes that stop them before they have a chance to get started.Fisher looks at six traditional steps in the capital-raising process and digs beneath the surface to expose subtle but critical aspects of each - knowledge that, until now, could only come with experience. For example, everyone knows that you need to have a compelling story to raise capital, but compelling for whom? Not for you or your friends or your potential customers, but for investors. So how do you design your pitch to work for them? And while you obviously need investors, they have to be the right investors. You need people who understand your vision and goals, not just whoever is waving the biggest checks.. Based on Fisher's three-day seminars that regularly sell out all over the world, this book offers the kind of capital-raising street smarts no entrepreneur can do without.