Business Program

Angel Investing and Venture Capital

Faculty Advisor: Former Professor of Dartmouth Tuck Business School; Former Director of MD-MBA program, Dartmouth

Research Program Introduction

(Disclaimer: this program is purely for educational purposes. It is not to give financial advice on personal financial investments.)

You may know this scene from TV: a high-spirited entrepreneur is pitching their business to a group of investors. Now imagine this: if you’re a venture capitalist looking to put your money into a startup, what key factors will influence your investment decision?

In this program, the professor will help students understand the various stages of early investing—including “back of the napkin,” pre-seed, seed, and the A round. Also, the risks, rewards, and timing involved in investing.

During the program, students will identify different types of investors (and how they differ), such as individuals, " angels,” angel groups, family offices, Incubators, accelerators, University seed funds, and venture capitalists.

Students will also learn general and subject-specific research and academic writing methods used in universities and scholarly publications. Students will focus on individual topics and generate their own work product upon program completion.

Final Deliverables

  • A 6 to 8-page evaluation of a US Venture Capital Group or a company that the group vested in. 

  • A slide deck (7 to 10 slides) presentation to the cohort of that project.

Possible Topics For Final Project:

  • Why do so many new private companies fail to succeed? Explain the reasons and how to prevent that from happening.

  • Compare and contrast the different stages of a company, such as back of the napkin, pre-seed, seed, A round, and exit by sale, merger, or going public.

  • If you want to invest in a private company, which role would you like to hold and why?

  • What is a venture capital company? Describe what they do and how they do it.

  • Evaluate when, how, and with whom a core company board should be formed.

  • Other professor-approved research topics in this subject area that you are interested in

Program Details

  • Cohort size: 3 to 5 students

  • Duration: 12 weeks

  • Workload: Around 4 hours per week (including class and homework time)

  • Target students: 9 to 12th graders interested in investment, entrepreneurship, finance, and business in general.