Fast Company
Venturing Forth
Kathy Sherbrooke, cofounder of Circles, one of the few venture-backed companies on our list, on what she learned about going after venture capital.
Invest in a copy of Pratt's Guide to Venture Capital Sources (Venture Economics, annual). This tome tells you which industries different VCs play in.
Never send your plan cold -- always get an introduction. VCs don't play nice with strangers.
Make peace with losing control. If you take VC funding, they own you, not the other way around.