This guide pulls together everything I learned about venture capital deal mechanics during my time as Head of Data Science at Aumni, a deal analytics platform that was acquired by JPMorgan Chase in 2023. At Aumni, my team analyzed thousands of actual venture deal documents, and the data told some interesting stories about how deals really work versus how people think they work.
Aumni is being shut down in early 2026, so I’ve preserved the substantive content from the blog here. Some posts are lightly edited data reports (with notes about when the data was collected), while others are more heavily rewritten explainers with my own perspective added. The original Wayback Machine links are included at the bottom of each post.
Deal Terms & Legal Structure
The nuts and bolts of how venture deals are structured. Liquidation preferences, protective provisions, and the legal terms that actually matter when things go right (or wrong).
- Liquidation Preferences: A Complete Breakdown
- Protective Provisions in Venture Deals
- The Complete Guide to QSBS for Venture Investors
- Valuation Standards and Regulations in Venture Capital
Valuations & Metrics
How venture-backed companies get valued, what the data shows about valuation trends, and the metrics that matter for measuring fund performance.
- How Startups Actually Get Valued
- How Venture Valuations Move Through Market Cycles
- Valuation Methods for Venture Portfolios
- DPI, RVPI, TVPI, and IRR: Key Metrics for Evaluating VC Fund Performance
Financing Structures
How startups raise money, from convertible notes and SAFEs to priced equity rounds and everything in between.
Market Dynamics
How venture capital markets behave, what the data reveals about fundraising patterns, and the structural forces that shape deal activity across cycles.
Fund Operations
The operational side of running a venture fund: audits, KPI tracking, fee structures, and portfolio monitoring.
- The Venture Fund Audit Guide
- Fund Economics: Fees, Terms, and Portfolio Monitoring
- KPI Monitoring for Venture Portfolios
LP/GP Dynamics & Fundraising
The relationship between limited partners and general partners, fundraising dynamics, and how the LP/GP ecosystem is evolving.