Overview
Introduction
About Value Sweep
Frequently Asked Questions

About the Book
Excerpts from the Book
Endorsements
Downloadable Spreadsheets
Recent Press
Recent Articles
Errata

The Author
About the Author
Contact the Author
Interview with the Author

Additional Resources
Real Options
Decision Analysis
Other Valuation Links
Venture Capital and Startups
Intellectual Property

Value Sweep is practical and relevant. Here are some current issues and questions that can be addressed using the framework of the book:

• Recently Richard Bernstein, Chief U.S. Strategist at Merrill Lynch said, "In our view, mainstream technology is not a growth sector anymore."
  Value Sweep shows how changes in public market valuations lead to relatively larger changes in the value of venture-funded startups. (See Chapter 8.)

• Analysts expect Microsoft to lose more than $2 billion on Xbox… and yet expect Microsoft to come out with a compelling Xbox 2.
  Value Sweep shows exactly what is needed for a two-stage investment opportunity to be valuable. (See Chapter 5.)

• In our current economic climate ROI is used to carefully screen information technology (IT) projects. Yet, two years ago ROI was out of favor and real options for IT was in.
  Value Sweep shows why ROI is a useful IT project screening took and why IT projects can't be easily valued by other tools. (See Chapter 12.)

• Many analysts and strategists are intrigued by real options…but baffled by the math.
  Value Sweep makes real options for growth projects simple and shows when and where to use this valuation tool. (See Chapter 3.)

• Intellectual property (IP) plays an increasingly important role in our modern economy, yet we lack a common framework for valuation and for comparing the value of IP to that of other growth opportunities.
  Value Sweep presents a straightforward method for valuing IP and shows why there will never be one number for IP value; observed valuations depend on negotiating strategies and the relative financial strength of the players. (See Chapter 11.)

• Webvan can be considered a classic of the dot.com era. After raising over $850 million in funding, the firm went into bankruptcy because it could not raise the final $25 million it claimed it needed to become profitable.
  Value Sweep identifies the value weakness in Webvan's operational strategy and why one piece of news crumbled the firm's remaining value. (See Chapter 7.)

The Value Sweep Vision

The following picture illustrates the book's vision. The vertical bars represent the growth opportunities before the modern corporation. The variation in width and color indicates their diversity. The height of the boxes indicates value; the diverse opportunities can be compared. (The heights shown are illustrative.) This is a simple picture, but the results cannot be achieved without a change in how we value growth opportunities, including the transparency and rigor of aligning growth valuations with that of the financial markets.

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