​Venture capitalists will only put their money in a project that has promise of return on investment. Your idea may sound great but have no monetary value. For example you have an idea for sun glasses that make the sky look red. They look great but will actually have little value to attract investors.  Your idea could also look like it has no value because you have not taken time to explain it clearly on paper. Try to show how your idea can be turned to financial gain and how long it would take to make gainful returns.

The Venture Capital investors will try get best deal as they can get, that is part of their job. As an entrepreneur you must focus on how many percent of the company will be yours, remember that the optimal ownership is 50/50 some entrepreneurs have hard time to get investors and they accept what ever deal they can get without realizing the consequences of the deal. The lower the share of ownership the entrepreneur has the lower the controlling power in making decisions. 

In many cases the entrepreneur thinks they will get 50 percent of the money when the company is sold. There are some cases where entrepreneur signed a deal with 50/50 contract but they missed or ignored the part where it says 50/50 of the profit. This means that if Venture Capital investors invested $5 million and if the company was sold for $10 million then as an entrepreneur you will only get $2.5 million or even less. Some entrepreneurs thinks that the VC gets most of the profit. Actually, Venture Capital investment company has their own investors which VC has to give back their investment as well as the profit. 

In many cases the entrepreneur signed 50/50 contract but towards the end when it is time to sell the company the entrepreneur ends up getting 10% or less. This is because the more Capital requested might reduce your ownership. Another reason is, you might have to share your 50% with your team. Make sure your contract is clear among your team members. 

Some startup companies can be started with initial capital much less than predicted capital, if you spend every dollar on valuable things. It is very risky and dangerous to have partner that does not value money and spends it on unnecessary things. Your company will run out of money and you will start borrowing money even that will not be enough. You company will fail and you will end up with huge debt

When you look for partner pay attention to what they say. If the first thing they ask you how much will they make and how fast will they make money and how are they going to make money. Then he or she is not the right partner. Look for these values in investment partner, how can we add value, how can we improve the product and services. The partner that cares more about the value of the company knows exactly when, how much and how they are going to make money. If your partner ask you how much is the investment then tell him or her and try to see if he has any suggestion in raising capital. A partner that adds value are the ideal investment partners.

An investment partner that is honest are those who only cares about value adding rather than his own benefit. If your partner has some suspicious behaviors and if he or she avoids transparency then he is hiding something and he only cares about his own benefit rather than adding value to the company.

If you partner keeps saying negative things about you then you know he is not a team player, I love investment partners that are team players. An investment partner should suggest a solution if you make a mistake rather than put you down. An investment partner should support your idea if your ideas are good if they are not good then he or she should suggest an alternative or should inform you about the risks and reason that it will not work.

In corporate finance the CEO of a company with high ambitions are bad signal to investors, that is because they will invest in value destroying investments. An investment partner invest in projects that will have less risk with higher return. In fiancé high risk means high return, but it doesn’t have to be that way all the time. There are ideas that requires less risk high return

​If you have an amazing idea but if you do not prepare professional business plan that has all the necessary essentials of business plan to propose, then Venture Capital investors will not invest. 

Venture Capital investors know what the essentials of succeeding in startup are. Venture Capitals have an ultimate goal of selling the company when it is established. VC will evaluate their options between trade off and Initial Public Offering (IPO). A good team shows that this startup has a team that will deliver the goal of making the company established.

​As the person who came up with idea and as a leader of the team you might or you might not have all the qualities of persuasion. If you have the experience and qualities in persuading then it is great but if you have a team member who has good skill in presentation and persuading then let him deliver the presentation. It shows that you are not the only one convinced with your idea. 

​Venture Capital investors knows which investments are dumb money, meaning that the invested money will not be used to increase the return. Make sure that your startup idea will generate high returns, and give them certain time line. Venture Capital investors have the goal to get high return with in 5 years so that they can sell the company short after 5 years. 

​Venture Capital investors knows which ideas are value adding and which ideas are more likely to get better offers. If you have an amazing idea then approach to more than one Venture Capital investors. Show them that you are not only after the money of Venture Capital investors but you are also looking for value adding Venture Capital Investors. 

Do not spend money on things that will have no value, but do not be too tight with money also, instead value your spending, if that specific spending will create value to your company then its worth spending but if there is no value then it is money that your company could have used for other things that would add value.

Being an entrepreneur is not always easy because you have to balance between being a boss and leader. Find the optimal personality that will be best to run your company. Many studies and many people might suggest that being a boss is not good but in reality the companies that has strict directors or CEO achieve their goals. In some companies strict directors and CEOs destroy the company because most of the valuable employees start to leave or stop putting effort. Some entrepreneurs tries to be a leader but instead their employees takes advantage of them. A great leader is the best but these great leaders are very few. A great leader is the person that gives you hope and gives you a dream that you never thought it exists. A great leader is the person that lift you when you are at your lowest point. Try avoid habit of being a boss or being a leader unless you are naturally born as a leader, instead find the optimal balance between being a boss and a leader.

Value is the most important thing in business. As an entrepreneur you must always think about adding value to your company, employees, products and services. All these values will increase the chances of creating successful company.