Skip to content
Deepak Gupta markBooks

Books

Secrets of Sand Hill Road

Venture Capital and How to Get It

By Scott Kupor · Portfolio · 2019

The 'how venture firms actually work internally' explainer that founders rarely get straight from a partner.

Framework 200–350 pages(304p) Intermediate Published 2019
Amazon Publisher Goodreads Author site

Editorial take

Kupor (a16z's managing partner) wrote this as the inside view: the LP structure of a fund, how partner economics work, what motivates a partner to fight for your deal in committee, why follow-on rounds get supported or dropped. The book complements Venture Deals: where Feld and Mendelson teach the mechanics of the contract, Kupor teaches the mechanics of the firm on the other side. Read both before raising a Series B. The book is unusually candid about the conflicts of interest baked into VC fund structure — that alone makes it worth the time.

Last hand-checked 2026-05-18.

Read if you …

  • are raising a Series A or B and want to understand the room you're pitching into
  • are an early-employee or operator considering moving into venture
  • are a founder confused why your investor's behavior in one round differs from the last

Skip if you …

  • you already work in venture — much of this is mechanical for insiders
  • you wanted negotiation tactics — that's Feld/Mendelson's domain, not Kupor's

If you only read one chapter

How Funds Are Structured

The clearest explanation of the LP/GP fund mechanics and partner carry economics in print. Decoder ring for every later chapter.

Key ideas

  • VC partners are agents of LPs, not principals. Their incentives flow upward.
  • Carry is the only meaningful upside; management fees are operating cost.
  • A partner's reputation across deals matters more than any single deal — shapes follow-on behavior.
  • The board exists to govern, not to coach. Use it accordingly.

About the book

Scott Kupor's insider walkthrough of the venture industry, written from his position as managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz. The book covers fund formation, LP relationships, partner economics, deal sourcing, term-sheet negotiation, board governance, and exit dynamics, with case studies drawn from a16z's portfolio.

Kupor's editorial choice is to be transparent about conflicts — fund timing pressures, follow-on logic, partner politics — that operators rarely see articulated. That candor is what makes the book worth more than its competitors in the same shelf.

Pairs with

If Secrets of Sand Hill Road works for you, these likely will too.