This book delivers clear thinking for entrepreneurs who want to control their own destiny and grow their business without the need for venture capital. Joel Cannon, co-founder and president of Cannon Technologies

An analysis of success. 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).

Build your business without venture capital (VC) funding. Rao is here to show entrepreneurs that it is possible to start a business without outside help. He shares how more than 90 percent of America's billion-dollar entrepreneurs in the VC era (since 1946) avoided or delayed VC, and instead used finance-smart expertise skills that combine business-smart, capital-smart, and leadership-smart strategies.

The right mix of internal and external financing. It takes more than one person to grow a business from the bottom up. But that doesn't mean we have to sacrifice control of the venture in the process. Armed with 23 years of experience as a financer, Rao shows readers how to optimize internal financing so as to attract external financing. By keeping control of the venture, entrepreneurs keep more of the wealth, as well.

In Finance Secrets of Billion-Dollar Entrepreneurs learn about:

• Pre-financing, financing and post-financing skills and strategies of finance-smart entrepreneurs
• The ins and outs of venture finance, applicable to anyone looking to start a business
• Tips on increasing capital productivity and attaining financially sustainable entrepreneurship

If you've enjoyed entrepreneurship-focused titles like The Lean Startup, The $100 Startup, or Venture Deals, then Rao's Finance Secrets of Billion-Dollar Entrepreneurs is the next book for you.