The course deals with the analysis of the private equity and venture capital business. Over the course, students will be provided with a deep understanding of the mechanism underpinning the creation and/or development of a firm and the financial support it can get from the financial system through venture capital investment. The course tries to discover how special financial intermediaries (called private equity investors) finance through equity companies belonging to different stages of their life-cycle, starting from the very beginning (startup and early stage) to a more mature phase (i.e. expansion, mature age, etc.) or also staying into crises and decline. Private equity (named venture capital when the company is in the first phases of its life cycle) deals with very different activities, such as scouting, advisory, deal-making, valuation, and financing as financial intermediaries see it. COURSE SYLLABUS The course is made up of four different modules: WEEK 1 - Introduction to Private Equity and Venture Capital WEEK 2 - Discovering Private Equity Investors: Legal Issues and Taxation WEEK 3 - Management of Private Equity and Venture Capital Funds WEEK 4 - Company Valuation And Deal Making In Private Equity Settings WEEK 5 - Final Test Throughout the course, guest speakers and practitioners will be interviewed to provide some examples of concrete applications of the contents presented. RECOMMENDED BACKGROUND An understanding of the basic concepts of corporate financing accounting principles is required, while prior knowledge of private equity and venture capital is not required however it is recommended, as this is a course designed to introduce you to the fundamental concepts in private equity and venture capital.