This second edition offers a primer on the valuation of startups and scaleups. Innovative startups are characterized by high growth potential that usually absorbs liquidity. These features are unattractive for traditional banks, which are replaced by other specialized intermediaries such as venture capital or private equity funds, which diversify their portfolios and base their strategies on a multi-year exit. Startups coexist in an evolving ecosystem with established firms, to which they transfer innovativeness, technology, flexibility, and time-to-market speed, contributing to reinventing the business models and receiving feedback from mature firms on the current market features, the existing clients, and their unsatisfied needs. The valuation paradigms represent a central issue for any startup seeking external finance, either from family and friends or through a wider professional network. This updated book, complemented by practical cases (for instance, FinTechs, digital platforms, and e-Health applications), offers a guide to practitioners, students, and academics about the trendy valuation patterns of startups based on their strategic business planning.

Roberto Moro-Visconti is a professor of Corporate Finance at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, Italy. He also leads Studio Moro-Visconti, a financial consultancy specializing in intellectual property appraisal grounded in a long-standing tradition of professional consulting.