Berk & DeMarzo's Corporate Finance was my text, luckily I had one of them to teach the class as well so not sure I would have gotten as much out of it by just reading. Offshore ownership for tax purposes is pretty advanced, probably not something you can learn about in textbooks but some of the accounting firms put out pretty good primers on stuff like that you can usually download for free on their web sites. Good luck!
No, I'm mostly a serial entrepreneur these days, trade on the side. Took all the corp finance and corp law courses though, as well as negotiating a couple term sheets.
That may be true! I find it's insanely hard to get those first customers but pretty easy once you've got a brand, at which point another great idea has occurred to me... I actually have mixed feelings about VCs, never been one and they have more than their fair share of people who are full of themselves despite never actually building anything themselves. Anyway I prefer more nichie plays that don't fit the VC model and that I'm now fortunate enough to be able to self-fund. I'd much rather have full control of a niche and love what I'm doing every day than be under the get big fast gun, plus I'm pretty convinced I've reached the point of diminishing money=happiness returns.
I think that old adage, "love what you do" is overplayed. I will like it if it makes money. The world does not run on love and pixie dust. Social policies have to be funded by fiscal policies. You cannot social welfare programs without the money to support them. At the microcosmic level, you must be able to make money to support yourself. Subsistence is no life. Money does not bring happiness, but it definitely takes off the rough edges. You could do private equity since you are self funded. It is a mixture of trading and company making. Turning troubled assets into profitable companies.
Don't worry about me, I make plenty. I just get to choose how and where I do it and love what I do, which makes it so much better. I like to say it's like the difference between coach and business is huge, but the difference between business and first is ... meah. If I can work 30 hours a week and get business or 80 and get first, I'm so much happier in business! All in the philosophy, for some the making of the money is a reward unto itself, for me, not so much. Anyway, good luck learning, that's something we probably both value equally!