10 things to know before you pitch a VC for money

I am lucky - I was able to start my business without raising having to raise Venture Capital (VC) - but I have known several friends who thought bigger and needed to raise VC funds. Some made out fine - others crashed and burned with their pitch. Hopefully this video will help you hear a "YES".

Thinking startup? David S. Rose's rapid-fire TED U talk on pitching to a venture capitalist tells you the 10 things you need to know about yourself -- and prove to a VC -- before you fire up your slideshow.

10 things to know before you pitch a VC for money

Mark Cuban - my hero

In my entrepreneurship class during my MBA, we started off by introducing ourselves and then saying who our business hero was. I said Mark Cuban, because I wanted to ultimately own a sports team after I made it big. One girl in the class asked, "Isn't he that annoying guy?"

Well Cuban has a blog, and on that blog he's doing his own economic stimulus package. He's going to fund people who post comments on his blog that he sees fit. Check out the posting here, and take note of the "rules" he has.

Take note of rules #3 and #4:

3. It MUST BE CASH FLOW BREAK EVEN within 60 days
4. It must be profitable within 90 days.

Now I see why this guy is my hero. He follows the principle of be patient for growth and impatient for profit. Too many companies have the delusions of grandeur and want $50 million for a website with no business model (i.e. some way to make money).

Lesson to people looking to be an entrepreneur... Figure how to make a little profit. It'll go a long way towards getting funding.

Mark Cuban - my hero