A lot of people think that raising money is easy. Sure there’s a lot of investors out there looking for some great takers, but they’re careful with who they ‘give’ their money to.

Ben Yoskovitz of Stand Out Jobs had a great post on his blog about the suffering of venture capitalists. A must read for any entrepreneur thinking of pitching to a VC. You should also talk to other entrepreneurs and get their advice and suggestions… nothing teaches you better than experience and the second best teacher is somebody else’s experience.

I recommend thinking of VCs like a hot girl you want to date (or a hot boy for all the ladies out there). Would you just walk up to a girl and tell her how you want to do her? How you have something great that she’d really want to see?

Well, maybe some guys might (I know I have a few friends that use this approach but I won’t name names), but the majority won’t. Instead, you’ll ask people about her, maybe try to get introduced to her through a mutual friend, meet her at a party and start chatting with her… ask her about ‘her’… its all about the courtship.

And so too is getting a VC to fund you. What a lot of people don’t seem to get is that the VC funds you, not your business. They have to like you, trust you, and believe in you. So, the first step, build a relationship. Actually, you should be thinking of doing this even before you need their money.

And the rest as they say, just falls in to place.