A term sheet is a bullet-point document outlining the material terms and conditions of a business agreement. After a Term Sheet has been "executed", it guides legal counsel in the preparation of a proposed "final agreement". It then guides, but is not necessarily binding, as the signatories negotiate, usually with legal counsel, the final terms of their agreement
A letter of offer to invest, subject to due diligence, which stipulates the terms and conditions the investor is proposing including price, board positions, conditions precedent, negative covenants, adverse trading, etc
A summary of the terms the investor is prepared to accept A non-binding outline of the principal points which the Stock Purchase Agreement and related agreements will cover in detail
The Letter of Intent outlining the business, economic and legal terms of a possible investment from a venture capital investor Some funds offer a term sheet early in the process and before they have decided that they want to invest Other firms try to conduct much of their due diligence before offering a term sheet Hickory falls into the latter category