An eye-opening account of some of the successful deals and spectacular failures in the career of a successful private equity investor. Bill Ferris has led the field in Australian venture capital and private equity for more than 40 years. He has seen his share of successful floats, fly-by night wonders, and companies gone wrong. Here he takes readers into the world of private equity, with a wealth of stories on the successes and failures, deals that went right and deals that went wrong. There are priceless lessons for would-be investors and entrepreneurs in the insights the author can offer-how to raise funds, picking the right people, start-ups versus buyouts, IPO's and trade sales, all lessons drawn from personal experience. Along with numerous case studies of successful and not so successful ventures, Bill Ferris gives a detailed analysis of what makes a successful PE team, looks into the future of private equity, and summarizes the history of the industry from the 1970s.