At OTBC, we meet with a lot of entrepreneurs who want to raise venture capital to fund their idea. If they haven't raised venture capital before, they tend to underestimate how difficult it is and how long it takes. One way to increase the odds of getting funded is to understand what VCs look for in an entrepreneur.

Here are some of the posts I ran across this weekend that I thought other entrepreneurs might find interesting:

Startup Operations

Separating Your Personal and Business Finances - And Keeping them Separate 6 Tips for Improving Your Cash Flow When

According to Venture Beat, VCs raised the fewest funds in Q2 since 1996:

VCs raised 25 funds for a total of $1.7 billion. That’s the smallest amount of money raised in any quarter since 2003, and the lowest number of funds since 1996.

As reported last week in the New Your Times , a University of Maryland business school study concludes that:

GO ahead and write that 50-page business plan about your fledgling venture if it helps you to focus. Just do not bother showing it to venture capitalists, because it will do nothing to improve your chances of getting financing.

Yes, it's true, many investors will not read a business plan.

In a post this week , communications consultant Matt Eventoff talks about two "killer apps" (i.e., killer problems) that afflict startup pitches:

1. No central (clear) message.  Too much complexity
2. No practice or preparation, resulting in a distractingly bad presentation

I'd have to agree that Matt's two "killer apps" can indeed be killers.  When pitching an investor, the compelling idea, your solution, and how the investor makes money must all be spelled out simply.