Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

Accounting and Financial Planning for Law FirmsKickerFeaturesSectionsNewsLJN Newsletters

Internal Rate Of Return: A Simple, Non-Mathematical Explanation

By Thomas C. Klein

How do venture investors compare investments in portfolio companies when the amounts invested, the timing of those investments, the returns, and the timing of those returns are all different? The tool venture investors use to compare the rates of return on each investment on an “apples-to-apples” basis is the internal rate of return (also known as the compound annual growth rate or CAGR).

A typical venture investment involves several investments into a portfolio company at various stages of the company's development. From an investment perspective, those investments are considered negative cash flow; that is, cash going out from the venture fund. Of course, the cash goes out from the venture fund at different times. Investing $100 today is more expensive to the venture fund than investing $100 in a Series C Preferred Stock round three years from today because the venture fund would only have to put aside, say, $80 today to grow into the $100 needed in three years for the Series C Preferred Stock investment. This $80 is known as the discounted value or the value in “today's dollars” of the $100 investment that would be made in 3 years. Accordingly, any “apple-to-apples” comparison of investments would have to compare investments based on today's dollars.

This premium content is locked for Entertainment Law & Finance subscribers only

  • Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
  • Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
  • Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts

For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473

Read These Next
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough Image

There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.

Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs Image

A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.

Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It Image

Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?

Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners Image

Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.

Coverage Issues Stemming from Dry Cleaner Contamination Suits Image

In recent years, there has been a growing number of dry cleaners claiming to be "organic," "green," or "eco-friendly." While that may be true with respect to some, many dry cleaners continue to use a cleaning method involving the use of a solvent called perchloroethylene, commonly known as perc. And, there seems to be an increasing number of lawsuits stemming from environmental problems associated with historic dry cleaning operations utilizing this chemical.