Private Equity and Venture Capital in Europe

Chapter 1. The fundamentals of private equity and venture capital

This chapter presents the fundamentals of private equity and venture capital. The first section covers private equity and venture capital, underlining important differences between American and European approaches to funding start-ups and the typical characteristics of the business. The second section explains how private equity finance is different from corporate finance, emphasizing the distinguishing elements. The third section analyzes private equity and venture capital from the entrepreneur’s perspective, while the last section discusses the views of all types of potential investors.