Entrepreneurs waste a lot of time soliciting professionally managed venture funds. Venture capitalists operate according to their own largely unwritten rules. In order to play the funding game, you must learn these rules. Below, I've listed some of the most-common mistakes. They won't tell you everything you'll need to know, but these simple rules should help you understand the VC process and avoid an enormous waste of time, energy, and opportunity.
Rule #1: Choose the Appropriate Audience
VC funds collect huge sums of cash, and managers must put it to use within four or five years, or risk losing it. Despite their vast resources, venture funds' staffing is generally lean and mean — managers cannot afford to look at investments that involve, from their perspective, trivial amounts of funding. If you're looking for very early-stage funding (the so-called "angel round") or financing under, say, $5 million, don't go to a professionally managed venture-capital fund. Find angel investors instead. They specialize in taking a company from inception to the next round of financing.
