Foster Business Library


Venture Capital Resources


Foster Business Library research guides are aimed at University of Washington students, faculty, and staff, highlighting resources available to them; users not currently affiliated with the university may be unable to access some of these resources.
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Foster Business Library Databases:

The Foster Business Library offers an extensive collection of over fifty databases on its homepage; see under Databases. For a complete list of Foster databases, see the List of All Business Databases. Access to these databases from off campus requires that you first go to the Off-Campus Access button, in the upper right of all library webpages. These resources may not be accessed from off campus except by those with a valid UW Net ID and password. For more information on Foster business databases, click Databases, A-Z. For information on which Foster business databases to use, see the Database Index. For information on accessing Foster databases from off campus, see Database Access. For guidelines on responsible database usage, see Database Usage.

  • Gale Virtual Reference Library:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under List of All Business Databases.   The Gale Virtual Reference Library is a database of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research; go to Business for three major business sources:   the Encyclopedia of American Industries (4th ed., 2005), the Encyclopedia of Business and Finance (2001), and the Encyclopedia of Small Business (2nd ed., 2002).

    See Venture Capital, from the Encyclopedia of Small Business (second edition, published in 2002).

  • Hoovers Online:   Hoovers Online offers information about 14,000 public and private companies worldwide, with links to company homepages and annual reports, charts, company capsule, competitors, divisions, earnings, financials, Fortune and Forbes rankings, history, industry information, insider trading, mission statements, news links, press releases, officers, patents, products, SEC filings, splits, subsidiaries, etc.

    See the Hoovers' factsheet for the Venture Capital industry.

  • Social Sciences Citation Index:   This database "is a multidisciplinary index, with searchable author abstracts, covering the journal literature of the social sciences. It indexes more than 1,725 journals spanning 50 disciplines, as well as covering individually selected, relevant items from over 3,300 of the world's leading scientific and technical journals. It "provides access to current information and retrospective data from 1956 forward."

    A search in this citation database for Venture Capital produced a list of over 500 references, in journals such as Strategic Management Journal, the Journal of World Business, the Journal of Corporate Finance, the Journal of Small Business Management, the Journal of Management Studies, the Journal of Business Venturing, and many more.

  • VentureXpert Web:   Available under Databases on the Foster Business Library homepage. This database of venture capital and IPO data, from Thomsen, contains venture capital and private equity information dating back to 1970. It includes data on private equity placements and IPO activity, with the ability to limit searches to geographic area, industry, etc.

    For instance, a search in this database for companies, in Washington state, involved in venture-related deals, produced over 600 companies.

    Web Resources:

    Unlike library databases, Web resources are available wherever you have web access; they do not require that you access them via the Off-Campus Access button, in the upper right of all library webpages. When using web resources, be sure to evaluate the credibility of these resources. For a subject index to web resources, see Business Resources on the Web on the Foster Business Library homepage.

  • The Alliance of Angels:   This organization, a "program of the Technology Alliance, is a regionally-focused group of about 140 individual investors and representatives of investment corporations in the Pacific Northwest. Our organization acts as a "matchmaker" for young technology companies and interested investors." See their Startup Resources, Presentation Guidelines and Events.

  • Center for Venture Research:   "The Center for Venture Research is a multidisciplinary research unit of the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire. The Center's principal area of expertise is in the study of early stage equity financing for high growth ventures.  The Center for Venture Research, since its inception in 1984, has undertaken and published numerous studies in the area of early-stage equity financing of entrepreneurial ventures." See their Publications, Technical Reports, and Capital Locator (none available for downloading).

  • Entrepreneur Magazine:   Entrepreneur Magazine is available in print format in the Foster Business Library Periodicals Collection as well as on the web. Among their long list of Topics, see Venture Capital and Top 100 Venture Capital Firms, part of their Start-Up Financing section.

  • EntreWorld.Org:   This Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation site provides resources for entrepreneurs. See their Resources for Entrepreneurship, information on Venture Capital in their Finances section.

  • Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research:   This site, from Babson College, provides access to a large number of papers on research into entrepreneurship, some in full text, some in summary form, presented at the annual Conference on Entrepreneurship. This list can be browsed by topic or by year presented. A search at this site for Venture Capital produced a list of more than 500 articles.

  • Harvard Venture Capital Club:   This site is a good source for information on the venture capital and private equity industries. See their Venture Capital Industry page and the link to Harvard's Baker Business Library guide on the Venture Capital and Private Equity Industry.

  • Inc Magazine:   Inc Magazine is available in print format in the Foster Business Library Periodicals Collection as well as on the web. It describes itself as the magazine for growing companies, aimed Generally at newer, smaller, private companies. Their website offers sections for How-To Guides, Articles By Topic, and Finance and Capital (which includes Venture Capital).

  • Keiretsu Forum:   "Keiretsu Forum is an investment community of accredited private equity investors, venture capitalists and corporate/institutional investors. Forum members invest in high-quality, diverse investment opportunities. The community is strengthened through its involvement in social and charitable activities." "Companies that apply to Keiretsu Forum are typically in their A or B rounds, usually with $500K to $1.5MM friends and family investments." A Seattle/Northwest chapter of this organization was established in 2005.

  • MoneyTree Survey:   "The MoneyTree Survey is a quarterly study of venture capital investment activity in the United States. As a collaboration between PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thomson Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association, it is the only industry-endorsed research of its kind." One of the regions tracked is the Northwest. See also their very worthwhile Resources and Reports on the venture capital industry.

  • National Venture Capital Association:   The National Venture Capital Association is "the trade association that represents the venture capital industry. It is a member-based organization. Its membership consists of venture capital firms and organizations who manage pools of risk equity capital designated to be invested in young, emerging companies. Currently, the NVCA represents 400+ member firms, representing the majority of venture capital invested in U.S. based companies." See their overview of the Venture Capital Industry and Resource Links.

  • NVST:   "NVST is an Internet hub (or portal) for the worldwide private equity and finance community. The NVST.com website provides online access to Venture Capital or Merger & Acquisition investment opportunities, professional journals, research databases and educational resources for professional training." See Venture Capital on their Research Data page and their Expanded Subject List.

  • Puget Sound Venture Club:   This local club of venture capital enthusiasts was started in 1985 and, since then, has invested in over 500 new companies. Membership is capped at fifty and, for individuals, is aimed at those with a minimum net worth of $1 million. See their For Startups page.

  • TheFunded.Com:   This website provides a directory, profiles, and ranking of venture capital firms, with blog entries from members. As an example, see their profile for local Ignition Partners.

  • Venture Capital (DealBook):   This New York Times Business section, part of the DealBook, provides news and analysis of the venture capital marketplace.

  • Venture Capital Institute:   Over more than 25 years, this organization has "provided the educational foundation that over 3,300 venture capital professionals have used to become successful in their venture investing endeavors." They sponsor an annual conference on venture capital, offer venture capital Reading Lists and Industry Overviews.

  • Venture Capital Notebook:   This Seattle Post-Intelligencer section covers venture capital funding and offers an excellent list of venture capital firms in the Northwest, with columns on venture capital each Friday. See also John Cook's Venture Blog.

  • VentureOne:   According to VentureOne, this firm is "the world's leading venture capital research firm," offering "timely information on the venture capital industry." "VentureOne's products and services help venture capital firms, corporate investors, investment banks, and accounting and law firms identify private investment opportunities, perform due diligence, and evaluate market trends, including company valuations and industry preferences." Some of their site content is free; see their Statistics.

  • Wikipedia:   This free online user-created and maintained encyclopedia can be a good starting point for an orientation to a topic. See their entry for Venture Capital.

  • Zino Society:   This Seattle-based organization describes itself as "an exclusive network of private membership chapters fostering quality connections between wine industry leaders, hospitality partners, business sponsors, investors, and aficionados." "Roundtable members and their guests have the opportunity to attend bi-monthly sponsored forums to discuss screened investment opportunities." Foster Business Library Reference Collection:

    The Foster Business Library Reference Collection consists of business handbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other quick reference tools. It is located behind the Reference Desk in Foster, arranged by call number. Reference materials cannot be checked out; they may only be used in the library.

  • Statistical abstract of the United States.
    Information about many industries as well as demographic information; check index for references to tables. The sources for each table are often a valuable source of additional information.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA202 .U56 2004-2005.
    Also available online.

    See page 500 for table #743 on Venture Capital Commitments, By Source, 1990-2003.

  • The Blackwell handbook of entrepreneurship.
    This British publication offers 21 essays on this topic, from thirty authors, in four parts, from setting the stage for international research in entrepreneurship, to governmental impacts on entrepreneurship, financing growth, and achieving growth, with a concluding chapter.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HB615 .B617 2000.

    See Part III, Financing Growth, for four essays about Venture Capital.

  • Puget Sound Business Journal Book of Lists.
    This annual publication is an invaluable source of information about public and private companies in the Puget Sound area, culled from lists that appeared weekly in the Puget Sound Business Journal. Besides lists of the largest and fastest growing public and private companies in the area, this reference work includes commercial real estate deals, banks and securities firms, contractors, education and employment, health care, title companies, marketing firms, nonprofits, professional services, executive compensation, real estate, retailers, software developers, biotech and travel and recreation. There is an index to companies and topics in the back of this volume.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC108 .S77 .P83 2005.

    See the list of the largest Venture Capital Firms on page 26.

  • Business: the ultimate resource.
    This 2,200-page single volume is "designed to offer a wide range of insights, information, and practical guidance on every aspect of management" via 2.5 million words of text from 200 contributors, with 700 illustrations and 150 maps, in seven major sections including best practice, a management library, business thinkers and management giants, a business dictionary, a world business almanac, and a guide to business sources.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD38.15 .B878 2002.

    See Venture Capital on pages 2131 to 2133—and the profile of Arthur Rock, the man who invented the phrase Venture Capital, on pages 1130 to 1131.

  • Encyclopedia of emerging industries.
    Five page descriptions of over 100 new industries, with an industry snapshot, organization and structure, background and development, pioneers in the field, current conditions, industry leaders and references to further reading.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD2324 .E528 2001.

    See Venture Capital Firms on pages 775 to 781.

  • Small business sourcebook.
    This massive two volume set is a good starting point for information about nearly 350 types of small businesses. For each type of business, there are references to startup information, associations and other organizations, reference works, statistical sources, trade magazines, franchises and business opportunities, Internet databases, libraries, and research centers.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD2346 .U5 .S66 2002.

    For Venture Capital and Other Funding, see volume two, pages 2582 to 2604.

  • International encyclopedia of business & management.
    This eight volume set provides 750 essays on topics from Accounting to Zimbabwe, Management In, in seven volumes; volume eight is an index to the seven volumes. Each essay is a dozen or more pages in length, with bibliographies and links to related essays. See the essays in volume two on Entrepreneurship (pages 1763 to 1770), Entrepreneurial Marketing (pages 1747 to 1753), and Entrepreneurial Strategies (pages 1754 to 1762).
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF1001 .I53 2002.

    See Venture Capital in volume seven, pages 6692 to 6698.

  • Pratt's guide to private equity sources.
    This reference work, formerly Pratt's Guide to Venture Capital Sources, starts with over 120 pages of information about the venture capital industry, with essays on the background of private equity, how to raise it, sources for business development financing, and other topics. The major part of this reference is a directory of U.S. and non-U.S. private equity firms (arranged by state), with indexes by individual, industry and stage preferences, and by company name.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG64 .P73 2004.

    See Washington state on page 1483.

  • The corporate finance sourcebook.
    This large paperback is a guide to major capital investment sources, including venture capital, both in the U.S. and internationally. See United States Venture Capital Lenders on pages 1 to 338, with extensive profiles of firms, followed by indexes to venture capital firms by industry, financing, and geography. See International Venture Finance firms on pages 1369 to 1413.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4057 .A1565 2003.

    See Washington on pages A262 to A263 and the Northwest on page 371.

  • The handbook of alternative assets.
    This handbook covers alternative assets such as hedge funds, commodities, venture capital, leveraged buyouts, private equity, credit derivatives, collateralized debt obligations, etc.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4530 .A57 2002.

    See the chapter 14 on Introduction to Venture Capital on pages 261 to 281.

  • The directory of venture capital & private equity firms.
    This large new paperback, in its eighth edition, lists U.S. and international firms in two A to Z lists, with over 3,300 firms, indexed by college or university, executives, geography, industry preference, and portfolio companies. The A to Z listing of firms includes, for each firm, its mission statement, geographic preference, fund size, average and minimum investments, investment criteria, industry group preferences, portfolio companies, locations, and key executives.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4751 .F582 2004.

    See executives associated with the University of Washington on pages 839 and 840, and firms located in the state of Washington on pages 942 and 943.

    Foster Business Library Books:

    The Foster Business Library maintains a collection of over 70,000 books on all business topics. To search for materials on all three campuses of the University of Washington, go to the UW Libraries Catalog, in the upper left corner of the Foster Business Library homepage. Search by keyword, title, author, series, etc.

    To limit the results of your search just to materials in the Foster Business Library collection, use the Modify or Limit options at the top of the search results and change the library location to Foster Business Library. Availablity is indicated on the right of each online catalog record. First, note in which collection, within Foster, your materials are in, since the library has ten different Collections, each in a different location and often with differing arrangements. "Available" indicates that the book should be on the shelves under that call number and available for you to check out. "Due" and a date indicates that the book is already checked out to someone and is due back on the date indicated; you can have the "Request/Place Hold" feature to recall the book for your use.

    If the material you want is not in the collections of the University of Washington, you can use the "Search Summit" feature to repeat your search in the combined holdings of over thirty cooperating libraries in Washington and Oregon. Use the "Request This Item" feature in Summit to have books in those library sent here to Foster for you to check out.

    The Foster general stacks collection is located south of the main part of the Foster Business Library, through the two pass-throughs into the basement of Balmer. The arrangement is by call number, from A (at the east end, near the Copy Center) to Z (at the far west end).

    A keyword search for Venture Capital produced a list of over 200 records in the UW Libraries, including 90 records in the Foster Business Library. Examples include:

    Related subject terms include (with Foster Business Library records):

    Foster Business Library Periodicals:

    Foster Business Library Articles:

    Articles in academic journals, magazines, trade periodicals, and newspapers are one of the best sources for any kind of research. While the Foster Business Library offers a large periodicals print collection, comprising over 800 titles, articles are most easily accessed online, 24/7, in such fulltext article databases as EBSCO Business Source Premier, Factiva, LexisNexis Academic, Newsbank Infoweb, and ProQuest Databases. These article databases are available in the library or from off-campus, and provide access to over 10,000 periodicals and millions of articles.

    Library access to most ProQuest databases will terminate at the end of spring quarter 2008, except for ProQuest NewsStand, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Historical New York Times, and the Historical Wall Street Journal. For more about this change, see UW Libraries Providing New Databases. After this change, comprehensive article searches should be performed in EBSCO Business Source Premier, Newsbank Infoweb, and ProQuest NewsStand. Also, after this change, links to the articles below will be broken.

    ProQuest Databases:

    This database--actually, a family of over two dozen databases--offers full text articles for over 10,000 publications, including scholarly journals, magazines, trade and industry periodicals, newspapers, and reports on a very wide range of topics. To find articles on specific topics, search by word or phrase by keying your search phrase into the search box--or search for your topic in the Topic Guide.

    Your search terms will be highlighted in red in each article.

    As an example, a search in this database for the keywords Venture Capital produced over 43,000 articles, with over 800 articles in scholarly journals, over 3,400 articles in magazines, over 26,000 articles in trade and industry publications, and over 11,000 articles in newspapers.

    A topic search for Venture Capital in the Topic Guide produced Venture Capital, (over 23,000 articles), Venture Capital Companies, (over 9,700 articles) and Venture Capital Funds (over 1,900 articles). Each of these subjects is associated with related narrowing terms; in the case of Venture Capital, more than 100 narrowing terms, including Business Incubators, Debt Financing, Equity Financing, Forecasts, Going Public, Initial Public Offerings, Mezzanine Financing, Rates of Return, Statistical Data, and Studies (as well as many industries and countries).

    While a topic search for Angel Investors produced just two articles, a search for SUB(High Tech Industries produced a list of over 22,000 articles; for SUB(Small Business) and SUB(Finance), over 1,200 articles; for (Small Business) and SUB(Venture Capital), over 9,700 articles.

    Some examples of articles produced by these searches:

    Help:
    26 February 2003; updated 13 February 2008.   Peter Stevens, Business Librarian, stevens@u.washington.edu