There are so many people to thank that we fear that we'll forget some. For those not identified here, please accept our apologies, along with our sincere thanks.

Our biggest thanks go to our wives, Sharon Batterson and Randy Freeman. Both have lived through multiple decades with the authors, their driven husbands. Just when they thought we were finally slowing down to a normal pace and workload, we decided to write this book to share our knowledge and experience with interested investors and entrepreneurs. Writing a book is a long, hard process. So, Sharon and Randy, thanks for continuing to put up with us!

Our next round of thanks goes to our predecessors and contemporaries in the venture capital industry, from whom we've gained inspiration and knowledge. Thanks as well to the investors who have placed their trust in our team, and to the entrepreneurs we've had the opportunity to work with, from whose shared experiences we've also learned, while having the opportunity at the same time to build wealth for our investors, our colleagues, and our families.

Among this latter group, special gratitude is due to: the late Jim Kimsey and the still very active Steve Case, the individuals most responsible for the tremendous success of AOL, as well as our Harvard Business School classmate George Middlemas, also critical to the startup and development of AOL, which contributed so importantly to Len's career growth; Sanford Morganstein, former president and CEO of the Dytel Corporation, who has so generously shared his venture capital funding experience with our readers; and Chris Gladwin, the founder of Cleversafe, for giving our team its latest opportunity to share in a grand‐slam home run success.

A big thanks is due to our VCapital colleagues, who reviewed the book so diligently and thoughtfully and contributed numerous comments and suggestions vital to the final product. Among them is Jim Vaughan, Len's closest business partner for many years and someone who has taught both of us so much about the investors who entrust us with their investment funds. This also includes Fred Tucker, Ryan Kole, Steve Ross, Steve Pedian, and Cindy Lieberman. A big thanks, too, to our VCapital Advisory Board Directors, a group of savvy, successful business experts—Steven Anixter, Tim Danis, Jim Prieur, and Lloyd Shefsky—who are always generous with their inputs and ideas.

Thanks as well to Jon Freeman, Ken's son, a seasoned financial advisor whose counsel encouraged his inherently conservative father to recognize the merits of investing in venture capital. He then reviewed the portion of the book targeted to investors to help keep us totally fair regarding venture capital performance comparisons versus more traditional investment asset classes.

We certainly can't forget about Len's talented assistant, Annie Piotrowski. Thanks to Annie for her essential technical assistance in pulling together all the many pieces that went into this book, some created initially on different software platforms whose ultimate harmonization exceeded our own technical skills.

Finally, we thank our agent, Jeff Herman, and the team at John Wiley & Sons for their belief in the importance of our message for prospective investors and entrepreneurs and their support in making this book happen. In particular, a special thanks goes out to Wiley associates Sharmila Srinivasan and Michael Henton for their vital assistance and support in the design and production steps bringing this book to its ultimate publication.