Title: There are a bunch of steps to dealing with VCs that you should
be familiar with before stepping in to the fray.<p>My background in this is that I did several pitches to VCs and have worked
for several VCs in the last couple of years, mostly on the technical
side but you get to see a good part of the process as perceived by
the companies pitching.  I also helped one company get seed
capital, because I thought they showed great promise.<p>So, the following is from personal experience,
which is limited but it may be useful.<p>Some VC's are more forgiving than others when it comes to following
proper form, but even if they're forgiving they'll appreciate it if you
know your stuff before you apply. Their agendas are almost
always quite full and the amount of time they have to spend on you
is limited, so you should use it wisely to maximize your chances of
success.<p>== before you start pitching ==<p>- First off, let's dispel a popular mistaken belief, getting an investment
 is not 'success'. It's a step towards a possible success, and it may
 give you a better chance, but it basically comes down to another
 party estimating that you have a chance of success and that they
 want a piece of that success in return for an investment.<p>- You have to know your stuff. This of course, sounds completely
 obvious but it really is surprising how many people will pitch
 to a VC (in itself something of an opportunity) and completely
 blow it by not having done basic homework. A fairly recent
 example, someone wrote a businessplan around a certain
 type of person and was pitching for capital. Halfway through
 the presentation one of the partners of the company being
 pitched interrupted and asked 'And how many of these people
 do you know ?'. A sensible question. The answer '0', more or
 less ended the interview, even though it went on for a while
 beyond that point, for politeness' sake.<p>Not knowing your target market, not having done any basic
 research in to the demographic that you intend to sell your
 product to is lethal.<p>As is not knowing your competive arena. If you come up with a
 brilliant plan that looks like some successful competitor is already executing and
 you don't know they exist that's probably the end of the ride for you. You
 really need to spend solid time on mapping out the competition. Know their weak points, know your strong points.<p>In short, know your stuff, expect to be challenged.<p>- Make sure you inform your partners about all your moves and get
  them on board before approaching a new party. To find out that
  someone isn't on board <i>after</i> you approach a VC is a real problem.<p>If there is any problem between the founders get it ironed out
 before you start making pitches, and make sure problems
 are resolved to all parties satisfaction.<p>- It isn't a must to be incorporated before approaching VCs, but it
  can be a problem if you picked the wrong form.<p>- if there are pending lawsuits it is usually a good idea to get
 those resolved before pitching as well. This can royally screw
 up your timing, a window of opportunity can easily close while
 you attend to this.<p>- you have to know what it is that you want that investment for,
 no matter how sure you are that you'll be able to spend it
 wisely, you need to pretty much lay out how you intend to
 use the money an investment will bring. This is where a
 businessplan comes in. These are no longer the 90's, so please
 no columns with more than 9 0's in it. Keep it realistic and
 make sure that it contains realistic estimates for the costs
 of the various components of your business. Factor in
 market rates for salaries, office space and so on. Get a feel
 for what it costs a business of a similar size to operate.<p>- scouting for capital takes  time. Sometimes LOTS of time. Make
 sure you have that time, and make sure that your business
 does not suffer from this. Farm out as much of the work to your
 co-founders as you can, spread that load. It will give them more
 insight in the process and it will get them more involved.<p>== approaching target VCs ==<p>- when approaching a VC try to find out the names of their 'spotters',
 and pitch the spotters first. That way, you essentially get two
 chances, the spotters might be able to tell you how to shape
 up your presentation in areas where it is perceived as weak.<p>- VCs are busy. Most of them are very busy, you have exactly
 one shot at making a first impression. One good way to get
 their attention is to send a single sheet executive summary
 to one of the junior partners if there are multiple partners,
 otherwise to a senior partner. If they're interested they'll
 hand it off to one of their underlings who will contact you,
 or they might contact you directly. Don't harrass them, but
 do mail two weeks or so later if you haven't had a response
 to inquire what they thought of it.<p>== a word of warning ==<p>- There are 'middle-men' in the VC world that sell their
 services to unsuspecting young companies in order to
 get them capital - so they say. The trick is that once they
 have your signature on a piece of paper that gives them
 exclusivity they no longer have to do anything. If you find
 your own capital they will claim their pound of flesh.<p>Selling 'access' is meaningless. For the price of a google
 search you can find more VCs than you could possibly hope
 to pitch, if your stuff is good and you can present it well
 you will most likely succeed in finding funding, even if
 you do not have an inside track. Work your network, get
 on that phone. It's a lot cheaper than giving some loser
 equity for doing nothing.<p>If you can't find anybody to refer you then maybe your
 product isn't that good, or maybe your team has a red
 flag. Ask why if you won't get a reference.<p>== you've been spotted ==<p>- If a VC approaches you because one of their spotters has
 alerted them to your existence then don't panic. They are
 simply interested, you've materialized on their radar and
 they would probably like to establish some kind of contact
 to be kept in the loop. Give them a bit of backstory about
 your company, don't gush out anything that you would not
 want a competitor to know.<p>If at some point you feel that the time for approaching investors
 is ripe then inform them. Until then simply keep them up to
 date of major public developments, if you get to know them
 a bit better you can ask for advice on business issues.<p>- make sure the VC that is asking you for information has not
 invested in a competitor! A bit of googling goes a long way
 before you start giving out confidential data. This is
 obviously not the normal case, but it does occasionally happen.<p>== pitching ==<p>- get an NDA signed by everybody that you are going to give
 confidential information if you think that there is something
 non-obvious about what you are going to present. Most people
 are over protective in this respect, but every now and then there
 is a bit of data that is really crucial. Think about if you
 even need to reveal it at this stage.<p>- Don't assume <i>anything</i>. You are pitching to people that are
 probably whip smart, but they don't have your background in
 your field. They will know business, but they may not know
 a thing about what it is that you are doing. So when you use
 words that are 'obvious' to the incrowd keep in mind that
 you are not talking to the incrowd. Get out of your techie
 mindset (unless the VC you're pitching to is extremely
 technical) and present your company as though building up
 from the ground.<p>- if you're the CEO of your fledgeling company keep in mind that
 you are speaking for everyone, not just for yourself, and make
 sure that you do not let any conflict of interest arise between
 you and the other founders (you really should have at least one
 co-founder). One of you should speak for all of you, but that one
 person should have the unconditional backing of the others.<p>- You pay your way (and they pay theirs). A VC is not under any
 obligation to refund you air-fare, hotel costs, legal, presentational
 or any other costs associated with the pitch. Conversely, you
 are not obliged to pay for any of their costs, such as legal
 and technical due dilligence, transportation and so on.<p>If you're short on cash and you want to pitch to a VC that is
 in an out of the way location for you, then the reality is that
 you may not be able to afford to pitch to them.<p>A recent weirdness is VCs charging an 'entrance fee', this is
 something to stay very far away from, anybody that wants an
 entrance fee is making money OF you, not WITH you and that
 is why they shouldn't be able to call themselves Venture
 Capitalists. Maybe Vulture Capitalists is a better term for
 such characters.<p>- know the terminology. If you don't know an NDA from a MOU
 then you will have to spend some time on that. Having your
 eyes glaze over halfway an interview or agreeing to something
 because you do not know what it means and you don't want to
 admit your ignorance is simply stupid. It does not mean that
 you have to know everything, it simply means that it is a lot
 easier to have a conversation with people if everybody is aware
 of the meaning of all the terms. It saves time, and makes you
 come across more professional, and hence will increase your
 chances of success (both to find capital as well as in succeeding
 with your venture).<p>- Other than NDA's nobody expects anything to be signed
 when it is delivered. So, do not sign stuff that you haven't
 had the time to go over, with your partners and your lawyer.<p>- When pitching time comes around: Sleep! Again, dead obvious,
 for sure. But the best way to get around being nervous is to
 be well rested. If you have to pitch several parties then
 try to schedule a break between them. I know that when I
 was done with a pitch I would literally be exhausted, unable
 to drive back to the office. It takes every bit of concentration
 and energy from you in a few hours time.<p>- never go alone. Bring someone along that you can trust  and that
 will give you a no-holds barred evaluation of how you performed.<p>- if it doesn't work out, don't despair. No angry letters to a VC that
 rejected you, instead, thank them for the opportunity and ask them
 if it is ok to keep them informed of your further development.<p>Ask them <i>why</i> they rejected you, in as much detail as possible.<p>Not as a way to get the door to open again, but simply because that
 is the best you can take away from this pitch, a lesson on what went
 wrong or why you did not make the grade.<p>Try again, and do it better next time.<p>== due dilligence ==<p>- Due Dilligence usually consists of several parallel jobs. There
 are legal, technical and financial stages.<p>Legal is to make sure that you own what you're selling, that all
 the proper procedures and contracts are in place and that
 there are no hidden liabilities. Usually this will also look at
 intellectual property issues and patents if applicable.<p>Technical is to make sure that what you've built is solid and that
 it will not open up the investor to a potential liability because of
 technical weaknesses.<p>Financial is to make sure that your books are in order and up to
 date and that there are no skeletons in the closet.<p>Due Dilligence is a <i>VERY</i> invasive process, depending on the
 quality of the people that the VC hires. My own specialty,
 technical due dilligence usually takes the form of a several hour
 long grilling of the CTO of a company with anybody they wish
 to call on, subsequently they get a long list of follow up questions
 via email. I will want to see your code, meet your developers,
 look at your documentation, inspect your physical security if
 you store private information and so on.<p>The questions range from simple ones to very complicated
 ones and I've seen at least one CTO flee the room to fix a SPOF
 that became apparent only during the interview. (what do you mean
 you run a single database server and you've never tried to restore
 a backup ? What if that drive crashes and it turns out that none of
 your backups are restorable ?)<p>== getting to a deal ==<p>- You have to get your own legal representation. Remember, in
 this phase of the process you are on opposite sides of the table,
 and if you are lax and let the VCs handle your legal bill you are
 effectively using a lawyer who is not working in your interest.<p>This will cost you dearly.<p>Pay your own lawyer, and pay him out-of-pocket, not out of
 a deal that hasn't been done yet, the situation should be the
 same if you walk away from it or if you take it. That's important
 because otherwise you might have to do a bad deal just to pay
 the legal fees.<p>- Nothing is binding until it is signed. Even a LOI isn't as strong
 as a real contract, and money in the bank. That goes <i>both</i>
 ways, but it is considered very bad form to back out once a
 LOI is signed. Still, a letter of intent is not a contract and VCs
 have been known to bow out in spite of signing and if anything
 major happens to your company between the LOI and a real
 deal you will probably be able to back out. But forget about
 pitching that VC ever again.<p>- Stay in constant touch with your co-founders during the whole
 process, if possible have them there when you're pitching and
 discussing the deal. People kept in the dark are usually not
 going to be happy with a fait-accompli that is not in their
 best interests. By bringing them in on the negotiations you
 stand a much better chance of not messing up your internal
 affairs.<p>- Feel free to request a better deal! Remember, the VCs will
 negotiate what's best for them. You have to be in control of
 your side, you have to know what it is that you want and how
 much you are willing to give up for it. There is no 'bad' deal
 that was not done, the only deals people regret are the ones
 that they did do, for too little money or too large a stake in
 the company.<p>This phase can take quite a while, don't feel rushed.<p>- be careful, there doesn't seem to be much difference from a
  funding perspective between a convertible loan and giving
  out equity, but in practice the difference is huge, especially
  if there are survival clauses and the company goes bust.<p>== the data room ==<p>- when preparing a larger deal there will usually be a data room
 set up, a centralized spot at your lawyers, or their lawyers office
 where all the documentation that both parties provide gets
 integrated in to a seamless whole<p>- you have the fiduciary obligation to inform the other party of
 anything material that you think may influence the deal. If
 someone has threatened to sue you recently then state it,
 make it part of the record. If you don't and the suit does
 happen you are going to be in big trouble.<p>- the VC has the obligation to do their research as thorough as
 they can, time permitting.<p>== doing the deal ==<p>- Once all the details are ironed out, there will be a concept investment
 contract. Usually this will involve changes to the articles of incorporation
 or the shareholder agreements of the company that is being invested in.<p>Unless you are a legal eagle I'd suggest you spend a lot of quality
 time ( ;) ) with your lawyer during this phase.<p>- have all your co-founders go over the contract, if they're unsure about
 the language get them to bring their lawyers at their expense. Make
 sure everybody knows exactly what will happen.<p>Best of luck!<p>thanks to Mahmud for the critique.
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