How to pick a VC

Otra joya del former chief evangelist de Apple:

Many entrepreneurs ask me what is the best way to open a pitch to potential investors. I'll answer that question
at the end of this posting, but first let me tell you the ten worst
opening lines that you can use:

1. You say: "I'm bright and ambitious." Investor thinks: "That's a relief because I usually invest in stupid and lazy people."

2. You say: "I'm a blue sky thinker." Investor thinks: "You have no business model, and you don't know how to ship."

3. You say: "I don't know much about your firm, but I thought I'd
   contact you anyway." Investor thinks: "You're a lazy idiot--why are you
   wasting my time?"

4. You say: "I love to think of new ways to solve problems." Investor thinks: "Is this a high-school science fair?"

5. You say: "I have lots of great ideas, but I have trouble
   figuring out which one to try. Let me tell you about a couple."
   Investor thinks: "I want to know which idea you're going to kill
   yourself trying to make successful, not which ideas have crossed your
   idle mind."

6. You say: "I've always wanted to be an entrepreneur." Investor
   thinks: "I've always wanted to be a professional golfer. So what if you
   always wanted to be an entrepreneur?"

7. You say: "I'm sure you are aware of the growing need for
   security. Web 2.0, Open Source, whatever." Investor thinks: "If you're
   sure I'm aware, why are you telling me you're sure I'm aware."

8. You say: "If you sign an NDA, I'll tell you my idea." Investor
   thinks: "You are clueless. How can you not know that venture
   capitalists don't sign NDAs?"

9. You say: "The last time I contacted you, I..." Investor thinks:
   "I'm going to fire my secretary for putting this clown on my calendar
   again."

10. You say: "My goal is to build a world-class company." Investor
    thinks: "How about you ship and sell the first copy before we talk
    about world-class anything?"

Via Abladias