The Entrepreneur's Guide To Raising Venture Capital

My current objective is to create the entrepreneur's manual for raising venture capital.  The posts below are parts of this manual, organized in the chronological order of the fundraising process.

I generally post on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
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Disclaimer
Disclaimer

Starting Your Company
What To Name Your Company
Leverage The Existing Value Chain
Your Company Is Who It Hires
First Mover Disadvantage

VC Overview
The Venture Police: Reputation
VCs Are Setup To Be Bad Guys
The Longtail Of Venture: Why Some Companies Will Continue To Need VC And Other Won't

Developing A Fundraising Strategy
Overview Of Fundraising Stages
The Fundraising Process Is Flexible
The Ideal Times To Raise Capital In The Life Cycle Of A Fund
How Much Capital You Should Raise:  Entrepreneur's Perspective 
How Much Capital You Should Raise:  VC's Perspective
More Capital Can Make You Less Efficient
How Much To Say You Are Raising
High Valuations Can Put Entrepreneurs At Risk
Companies Typically Raise More Money In Subsequent Rounds 
Convertible Debt:  Delaying Valuation
Take Seed From VCs To Get Them Hooked

Picking The VCs
Why VC Websites Stink
The Advantages Of A Local VC
Consider Available Capital When Selecting VCs 
Types Of Risks VCs Take
How A VC Is Funded
Implications Of How A VC Is Funded:  Diverse LPs
Implications Of How A VC Is Funded:  Family Office 
Implications Of How A VC Is Funded:  Government
Implications Of How A VC Is Funded:  Public Markets 

Preparing Your Materials
What An Executive Summary Is
PPT Presentations Are Not Executive Summaries
Use Of Web Based Executive Summaries 
The Importance Of Geography
Value Proposition/ Pain Point:  Make The Case
Addressable Market:  Not Market Size
Addressable Market:  Making The Estimate
Disruptive Technologies Can Shrink Addressable Markets
Competitive Landscape Overview
Barriers:  Get The Story Right
The Significance Of Patents
Major Achievements
Projections:  Nothing To Stress About
VCs Do Not Want Your Company To Be Profitable (In The Short Term)
VC Financial Performance Requirements
Overview Of Funding Status
Executive Summary Management Bios
The Significance Of Gray Hair

Getting The Meeting
Why VCs May Call
Why VCs Don't Sign NDAs
Submitting Your Executive Summary
How Not To Submit An Executive Summary
Why An Executive Summary
Who You Should Submit Your Executive Summary To
VCs Are Unavailable On Monday
Why A VC May Be Slow To Respond
Why You Might Not Get The Meeting
VCs Have Flashback Syndrome
Another Reason You May Be Rejected: Portfolio Concentration
Entrepreneurs Should Ask Why Not
Why VCs May Not Share Insights
Being Invited For A Call
Be Nice To Assistants

The First Meeting
Who You Should Bring To Your First Meeting
Sit On One Side Of The Table
The Objective Of The First Meeting
The Investment Overview Slide
Competition:  Provide Insight
Management:  Competency
Enlisting Your Complements
Management:  Compatibility
Good Management Takes Less Time
Concerns About Successful Entrepreneurs
Build Rapport
Pitch Is Not The Right Word
Proving You Can Execute
Figuring Out The 'How'
Give Straight Talk
Expect Straight Talk
Present Flexibly
Solve The VC's Issues
Do Not Stand While Presenting
Do Not Read From A Script
Do Not Ramble
Do Not Name Drop
Do Not Interrupt Your Partner
Do Not Focus On The Exit
Be Careful About Over-Selling Fundraising Interest
Follow-up Items
The End Of Meeting VC Pitch
Ask Questions At The End Of The Meeting
Ask The VC About Follow-On Investing
What To Do When The Meeting Ends

After The First Meeting
What To Expect After The First Meeting
Why VCs Don't Always Cut You Loose
What To Do When Your Company Is Being Monitored
How VCs Make Decisions Internally
The Objectives Of The All Partners Meeting
The Objectives Of The All Partners Meeting:  Inform (Most Recent Post)
How To Take Advantage Of The VC Decision Making Process
Creating Momentum
Maintaining Momentum:  Create Urgency
Don't Send Lots Of Emails After Being Rejected
Find A Champion
Make Younger VCs Your Champions
Respond Quickly To Follow-up Questions
VCs Are Not Like Your Parents
Reading VC Interest
Hear Feedback
Submit A Detailed Model
If You Can't Create Interest Move On
Getting Your Executive Summary Distributed To Other VCs
Why A VC Might Not Share Your Executive Summary With Other VCs
Sharing Your Executive Summary With Anonymous VCs

The Due Diligence Phase
The Due Diligence Process 
Why VCs Conduct Due Diligence
Types Of Due Diligence Meetings
Exploratory Meetings:  Open Your Kimono
Why You Should Facilitate Due Diligence
Due Diligence Considerations
Customer Reference Calls
Filling Information Gaps: Experts 
Mitigating Partnership Risk: Hearing It From The Horse’s Mouth
Sanity Check: Is Your Addressable Market Size Realistic?
Don’t Underestimate Your Addressable Market
Why VCs Want To Review Your Model
Competitive Positioning:  Making The VC Comfortable
Management References:  The Ethics Test
Manage VC Expectations About Operating Performance
Evolve
Sharing Your Cap Table
Doing Due Diligence On The VC

Doing The Deal
Timing Of VC Investments
Signs You're Close To A Term Sheet