1. Will a VC sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement)? No. If they did they would be in constant violation because VCs often see 3-4+ companies in every market that they operation.  NDAs would make it impossible to do business.   Asking for one to be signed shows naïveté.

2. What is the VC process?

• Meet with one person from the firm – partner or associate.  If you can meet a partner up front it’s always best but sometimes it’s not possible.  The first meeting will often by with an analyst, associate or principal.  Often principals are allowed to do their own deals whereas associates are not.  Associates are good an important people – I discuss this in the video.  Still, “call high” if you can.
• Potentially several other qualifying meetings before you get to meet the other partners if the person you have met is not yet convince / wants to do more work.
• If you make it past this stage you will go to a “full partners meeting” which is exactly what it sounds like.  In the video I describe how to best play this meeting and why, without a champion going into the meeting, you’re unlikely to get an investment.
• After the partners’ meeting you should usually get a pretty good steer on where you’re at in the process.  If you don’t, make sure you follow up and ask for feedback
• If they say yes you get a term sheet and once this is signed it is usually 3-6 weeks until your legal docs get signed and you’re funded.

Most investments in a start-up company, from the smallest “seed” financing that may be based on little more than an idea for a start-up, to a $50 million round for a profitable company preparing to go public, is preceded by an entrepreneur standing in a room explaining why venture capitalists should part with their money.

We asked Brian Jacobs, general partner with Emergence Capital Partners, a San Mateo, Calif.-based technology investor that is investing out of a $200 million fund raised in 2007, to take us behind the scenes of a typical company pitch and explain what goes through the mind of an investor as he’s watching and listening.

The slides below are a selection from an actual presentation made by Emergence Capital portfolio company InsideView Inc., a San Francisco-based company selling software that helps salespeople find new clients, improve existing relationships and close deals. The information is customized for each user and is provided through a Web-crawling search engine that finds and filters potentially important sales leads and information from in new social media sites and other emerging data sources. The presentation was shown to new investors, but eventually the company chose to accept the insiders’ investment proposal which resulted in an $11.5 million insider Series B financing in April from Emergence Capital, Rembrandt Venture Partners and Greenhouse Capital Partners. The company has now raised more than $25 million.

We interviewed Jacobs while looking at the slide presentation, which was similar to the one he saw that first spurred his firm to invest in the company. He took us into the mindset of a VC as he decides whether to, as Jacobs says, “give away millions to people we’ve just met.”

As Cohen noted, it's a result of seeing so many pitches that investors can offer insights into what works and what doesn't work in a pitch. Here are a few of the most common mistakes that Cohen along with other investors list:

1. The pitch lacks clarity

You should be able to give a clear description of what your company does - what needs it meets and how it does so. This should be short and succinct - think "elevator pitch."

2. You don't talk about your team

As Chris Dixon suggests, you want to pitch yourself not your ideas. In other words, it's important to be able to describe what it is about you and your team that gives you the skills to accomplish your business's goals. Highlight what you've done in your past in order to demonstrate your abilities.

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:

I was catching up over coffee and a muffin with a student I hadn’t seen for years who’s now CEO of his own struggling startup.  As I listened to him present the problems of matching lithium-ion battery packs to EV powertrains and direct drive motors, I realized that he had a built a product for a segment of the electric vehicle market that possibly could put his company on the right side of a major industry discontinuity.