Unicorn-Entrepreneurship:
How 9/10 Billion-Dollar Entrepreneurs
Start Unicorns Without Venture Capital

VC helps ~1 out of 5,000 ventures… After Aha! (proof of potential)
Unicorn-Entrepreneurship Helps Ventures From Idea To Aha!
Please inform me on LinkedIn to attend my free introductory webinar.

Learn How They Did It

Books

“Finance Secrets of Billion-Dollar Entrepreneurs

In Finance Secrets of Billion-Dollar Entrepreneurs, former venture financier and award-winning professor of entrepreneurship Dileep Rao presents readers with a detailed guide to success through his interviews and analysis of billion-dollar entrepreneurs (those who built a venture from startup to more than $1 billion in sales and valuation) and 100 million-dollar entrepreneurs (startup to $100 million). While starting a business without venture capital seems difficult, Rao is here to show entrepreneurs that not only is it possible, but it could very well lead to a more successful business. Rao shares how more than 90 percent of America’s billion-dollar entrepreneurs avoided or delayed VC, and instead used finance-smart expertise to take off without venture capital.

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Nothing Ventured, Everything Gained

Is it possible for entrepreneurs to succeed at growing ventures if they don’t have early-stage venture capital? Based on the fact that more than 9 out of 10 of America’s billion-dollar entrepreneurs did take off without early-stage VC, Dileep Rao says YES!

In Nothing Ventured, Everything Gained, Dileep Rao shatters the dominant myth that entrepreneurs need early-stage venture capital to build giant businesses. In fact, says Rao, by avoiding or even delaying VC, billion-dollar entrepreneurs can control their companies and the wealth created by them—and retain more of that wealth. The book is based on 30 of Rao’s interviews with billion-dollar entrepreneurs (BDEs) and hundred-million-dollar entrepreneurs (HMDEs) and the analysis of the strategies of 85 BDEs. The author introduces the finance-smart skills, opportunity secrets, and the strategy secrets of BDEs who took off without VC, and proves his point via stories of successful giants like Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Steve Jobs.

Every entrepreneur will do well to read and benefit from Rao’s invaluable insights and expertise.

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About Dileep Rao

Dileep Rao, PhD, was vice president of financing and business development and a board member at a venture development and finance institution for twenty-three years, where he financed the growth of hundreds of businesses and real estate projects.

Dr. Rao has started four businesses (including corporate ventures) and managed five turnaround businesses (four succeeded) where he was chairman and director of emerging ventures and financial institutions.

Dr. Rao advises on building big businesses with finance-smart strategies. His clients have included entrepreneurs; governments, including the US government; Fortune 1000 corporations, including Medtronic and General Mills; and financial institutions, such as banks and development financial institutions in the United States.

Dr. Rao is a clinical professor of entrepreneurship at Florida International University. Previously he was at the University of Minnesota. He has been awarded numerous awards for teaching at both universities. Rao has also taught at Stanford, INCAE (Costa Rica), and Harvard in addition to Executive MBA programs around the world. He is also a keynote speaker on how finance-smart entrepreneurs develop high-growth ventures with little or no venture capital.

Dr. Rao is a nationally acclaimed author and the entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial finance blogger for Forbes.com, one of the world’s largest online business sites. He has two engineering degrees and a doctorate in business administration from the University of Minnesota.

Other Books by Dileep Rao

Handbook of Business Finance: Find Equity, Dept, & Low-Cost Financing Intelligently
Buy The Book
Price: $38.00
Sale Price: $24.95
Handbook of Business Finance: Find Equity, Dept, & Low-Cost Financing Intelligently

“Like the U.S. Cavalry, (Rao’s) Handbook enters the scene just in time.” -- Inc. Magazine.

This books gives you the details about how America's financial sources operate and how to use the right financial instruments so that you can make the final selections and are well informed when you seek money.

Buy The Book
Price: $38.00
Sale Price: $24.95
Finance Any Business Intelligently: How Entrepreneurs can get the Right Financing from Smart Financiers
Buy The Book
Price: $29.00
Sale Price: $15.95
Finance Any Business Intelligently: How Entrepreneurs can get the Right Financing from Smart Financiers

This book describes in layman's language how to structure the right financing for your business and how to select the right financiers for your specific needs.

Buy The Book
Price: $29.00
Sale Price: $15.95
Bootstap to Billions: Proven Rules from Entrepreneurs who Build Great Companies from Scratch
Buy The Book
Price: $29.00
Sale Price: $24.95
Bootstap to Billions: Proven Rules from Entrepreneurs who Build Great Companies from Scratch

This book shows you how billion-dollar entrepreneurs and hundred-million-dollar entrepreneurs started and built their companies—mostly without venture capital.

Buy The Book
Price: $29.00
Sale Price: $24.95
Business Plans Intelligently®: Develop to Make Money. Write to Raise Money
Buy The Book
Price: $29.00
Sale Price: $18.95
Business Plans Intelligently®: Develop to Make Money. Write to Raise Money

This books help you develop your business plan to make money and write your plan to raise money.

Buy The Book
Price: $29.00
Sale Price: $18.95

Praise

  • “"Dileep’s new book, Nothing Ventured, Everything Gained, points out that entrepreneurs can build successful ventures with skills and smart strategies. It shows you how entrepreneurs like me did it without venture capital. If you want to build your business and stay in control, read this book. It is invaluable."”
    Glen Taylor
    Owner, Minnesota Timberwolves, Minnesota Lynx, and Star Tribune, Founder, Taylor Corporation
  • “In Dileep Rao’s insightful new book Nothing Ventured, Everything Gained, he demonstrates that while venture-backed startups (particularly those backed by substantial money from the major venture firms) get all the attention, the vast majority of startups do not use venture capital. Furthermore, he shows that even without a dime of venture capital, one can build a billion-dollar business. Along the way, Rao gives practical, experience-based advice on just how to do it.”
    Mitch Maidique
    Former President, Florida International University
  • “With a quarter century of experience in financing the growth of hundreds of businesses, Dr. Rao has personally “walked the talk” in venture development. Now, using personal interviews and examples from some of America's most successful entrepreneurs, his book provides a growth map for entrepreneurs who don't get venture capital or could fail with it.”
    William Rudelius
    Professor Emeritus, Marketing, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota
  • “Rao writes with insight and wisdom. He's a really smart guy providing really smart skills and strategies to grow a successful company without giving up control of one's venture.”
    Dr. Raymond Smilor
    Emeritus Professor of Entrepreneurship, Neeley School of Business, Texas Christian University
  • “In his latest book, Nothing Ventured, Everything Gained, Dileep Rao illustrates how to build a unicorn company without venture capital. He proves VC money does not necessarily buy happiness or success, and shows how bootstrap innovation skills, missionary sales skills, frugal operations skills, and revolutionary visioning skills create the most successful companies.”
    Judy Corson
    Co-Founder, Custom Research Inc.
  • “Instead of focusing solely on the opportunity, Nothing Ventured, Everything Gained lays out how the 99.98 percent of entrepreneurs who don’t benefit from venture capital—and the balance who do—can build big businesses with skills and smart strategies before seeking VC. With proven examples, Dr. Rao shows how all entrepreneurs can build businesses, control them, and keep more of the wealth they create.”
    Ban Aase
    Principal, Public Sector, CliftonLarsonAllen LLP
  • “Dileep Rao’s holistic approach to entrepreneurship is an impressive, comprehensive, and practical guide for any budding entrepreneur—whether they are striking out on their own or have come to the realization that successful managers must have an entrepreneurial mindset. The book explains why skills are needed before capital: Capital is limited, and entrepreneurial skills, not hopes, are what attract capital. This book describes the skills that more than 90 percent of entrepreneurs use to develop the right opportunity for growth and to design the right strategy for growth without venture capital. As a former entrepreneur, I thought that the focus on ‘truths are myths’ was especially relevant. I found the book to be pithy, practical, and to the point—a must-read for budding entrepreneurs.”
    Stephen T. Barnett
    PhD, Professor of Marketing Emeritus, Stetson University
  • “Turn off your investor pitch deck and boot up your business from the bottom up. This book is a how-to guide for those who have experienced (or want to avoid) the perils and misguided frustrations of the VC world. Rao shatters the Silicon Valley myth that billion-dollar businesses are predicated on the venture capital method and makes compelling and well-defended arguments that lend credence to delaying or avoiding VC capital altogether. Finally, the entrepreneur is empowered to build a business and reap the rewards.”
    David M. Ochi
    UCI Applied Innovation, Interim Director, New Ventures
  • “This is a true "Street Fighters" book. For a long time, I have searched for a book that honestly documents the secret, proven techniques used by America's most successful entrepreneurs. Dr. Rao's book does this. Read it.”
    Bill Winter
    Co-Founder, Merrill Custom Communications (Forbes list of 100 Top Small Companies)

Webinars

Dr. Rao offers webinars based on the concepts in Nothing Ventured, Everything Gained and Finance Secrets of Billion-Dollar Entrepreneurs. Attendees will learn how to position their venture for advantage, evaluate alternative financing options, and grow with control.

WORKSHOPS AND WEBINARS INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

  • INTRODUCTION: Why Unicorn-Entrepreneurs Launched Unicorns Without VC
  • UNICORN STRATEGIES: Innovation Strategies to Find Your Unicorn
  • UNICORN STRATEGIES: Competitive Strategies to Position Your Unicorn
  • UNICORN STRATEGIES: Finance Strategies to Fund Your Unicorn
  • UNICORN STRATEGIES: Launching Strategies to Take-Off
  • UNICORN SKILLS: Venture Financing without Venture Capital
  • UNICORN SKILLS: Finance Skills for Non-Financial Entrepreneurs
  • UNICORN SKILLS: Finance-Smart Business Plans
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Speaking

With over 33 years of experience working with entrepreneurs, managers, and leaders in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, Dileep Rao is an acclaimed teacher and speaker offering practical knowledge with lasting results.

Dr. Rao’s talks are based on his multi-faceted, achievement filled career and his study of some of the world’s great entrepreneurs. He teaches audiences how to build businesses by focusing on what truly matters and is sustainable in the long-term.

Dr. Rao speaks regularly on:

  • How to Grow a Great You: Remove Your Business Shackles
  • Proven Rules to Create Wealth and Keep It: How to Succeed with Limited Resources
  • Using Finance as a Competitive Weapon: Why Value + Numbers BEATS Value
  • How Financiers, Area Development Officials, and Professionals Can Help their customers, clients, and area firms

Interested in having Dr. Rao speak at your event? Contact us.

Media

Dr. Rao is a regular contributor to Forbes

Recent media also includes:

 

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