Coming off the TechCrunch Disrupt conference this week, one of the interviews that sticks out most in my mind was that of Yuri Milner, CEO of the Russian Internet holding company Digital Sky Technologies, by veteran TV host Charlie Rose. Milner has quickly made a name for himself by investing hundreds of millions of dollars in hot tech properties Facebook, Zynga and Groupon. But it didn’t seem like Milner had any sort of overarching philosophy, agenda or insight into the technology market.

Thanks to the most devastating recession in decades and dramatic shifts in the venture industry, finding investors to write those first checks is a frustrating, time-sucking process for entrepreneurs – but that doesn’t mean they can’t be particular.

If you’re startup owner, it’s important to remember that you don’t need to take money from just any VC.

Venture capital, at its core, is the business world’s equivalent of a long-term, nearly inseparable, relationship.  You are marrying your investor.

Like any good relationship, it’s best if the two parties have a lot in common. They should have experience in the same areas. They should be good communicators. There should also have good give-and-take skills, as well as mutual tolerance, because periodic disagreements are inevitable. What counts when that happens is whether those disagreements can be resolved amicably and successfully. If these situations aren’t met, the venture capital you attract is just fool’s gold.

Here are four tips to keep in mind before you take any venture capital:

It’s official. Yelp is raising a huge chunk of change from Elevation Partners. According to a release, Elevation will invest as much as $100 million in the startup. For now, Yelp will be raising a $25 million in a Series E round from the firm. We broke the news last week here, when talk of the round was in the $50 million range. The initial infusion is half that, but Elevation could end up investing much more over time.

Elevation co-founder Marc Bodnick will be joining Yelp’s Board of Directors. We originally hear that Bono, an Elevation Partners partner, was to be the board representative for Yelp but it looks like Bodnick got the seat in the end.

The investment comes on the heels of dissolved buyout deal with Google. Yelp walked away from an all but signed deal to buy the startup for $550 million.

The investment includes both a primary investment component as well as a secondary offering for long time employees. These deals are now being referred to as “DST deals,” since DST first invested in Facebook in May 2009 at a $10 billion valuation and later funded employee buyouts at a $6.5 billion valuation. They did a similar deal with Zynga.

The release also revealed that traffic on the site increased to more than 26 million unique visitors in the month of December 2009 and the site now has 9 million reviews.

CrunchBase Information

Yelp

Information provided by CrunchBase

Irish software startup Goshido completed its first round of fundraising in eight days.

More remarkable: all of it was done through the social network LinkedIn.

According to an article in the Irish Times, the company set out to "sell off 10 slots to investors at €25,000 each – each equivalent to a 2 per cent stake in the company."

Via LinkedIn, they sent out 700 messages to possible investors, and garnered 200 responses in just over a week -- resulting in a fast €162,500 (about $230,000) raised.

Executive Chairman Frank Hannigan told the Irish Times, "I’m blown away by it and it gives the lie to people who say social networking is just about Facebook.”

Clearly, LinkedIn can be used for more than just making contacts and recruiting -- it's a lucrative opportunity for business growth as well.

Read the entire article at the Irish Times >