????上周五，我在硅谷主持了以商業(yè)、企業(yè)家精神和科技為主題的BlogHer BET大會的閉幕式。宏盟集團(tuán)（Omnicom Group）執(zhí)行副總裁珍妮特?里奇作為小組發(fā)言人之一，就籌集初創(chuàng)資金給出了10點(diǎn)建議。這些建議事實(shí)上源于里奇認(rèn)識的一位企業(yè)家，即Communispace的首席執(zhí)行官黛安?赫森，上個(gè)月赫森剛剛同意將她的公司以1億多美元售予宏盟。

????里奇將我引見給了赫森——（事實(shí)上）我多年以前就已經(jīng)認(rèn)識她了，早在Communispace向其他公司提供幫助的社交媒體業(yè)務(wù)還不為人所知的時(shí)候。赫森與我分享了她的10點(diǎn)建議，現(xiàn)在我拿來與大家分享。—— Patricia Sellers

????1. 風(fēng)險(xiǎn)資本家也是人。他們喜歡把錢投給他們認(rèn)識的人……或他們的朋友認(rèn)識的人。因此，如果你和他們之間沒有任何關(guān)系，那么你不過就是一個(gè)陌生人提交了一份商業(yè)計(jì)劃書。在你的人脈上下功夫吧。通過推薦，你可以找到一個(gè)聽眾，但要是彼此完全陌生，那就真是碰運(yùn)氣了。

????2. 做好被拒的準(zhǔn)備。我認(rèn)識的大多數(shù)人都是要接觸十幾家風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資后，投資事宜才會有所推進(jìn)——而很多人可能還要同更多家風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資談。你不可能適合所有的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資。因此，如果你是一家生物科技初創(chuàng)公司，那么就去找那些喜歡這個(gè)領(lǐng)域的人。

????3. 講干貨。如今，冗長乏味的PPT演示已難再激發(fā)人們的興趣。風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資也是一樣。最成功的PPT首頁應(yīng)該列明“以下是我希望你們記住的8項(xiàng)內(nèi)容”，其余全部歸入“附錄”。

????4. 要求坦誠的反饋。當(dāng)一家風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資表示他們不感興趣時(shí)，往往都會給出這樣的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)回答，比如“這不是我們投資的那類公司”。禮貌地追問原因，告訴他們你并不想讓他們改變主意，只是想學(xué)習(xí)。他們接下來可能會說，“我看不到這項(xiàng)業(yè)務(wù)如何規(guī)模化”。那么，你就能試著進(jìn)一步了解并學(xué)習(xí)如何完善自己的商業(yè)計(jì)劃。

????5. 不要臆斷“女性身份即問題所在”。很多女性都跟我抱怨“歧視女性”現(xiàn)象。我看過她們的商業(yè)計(jì)劃書，真是糟透了。因此，不要吸取錯(cuò)誤的教訓(xùn)。

????6. 不要謙卑。大多數(shù)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資都想在5-10年內(nèi)賺取至少5倍的利潤。如果你希望獲得500萬美元投資，而你的商業(yè)計(jì)劃書顯示你的公司收入或許能在10年內(nèi)達(dá)到1,000萬美元，猜猜看結(jié)果會怎樣？你穿什么去見風(fēng)險(xiǎn)資本家并不重要。要勇敢和大膽！有魄力的人會說，“我知道這是一個(gè)充滿競爭的領(lǐng)域，但我們相信，我們可以擁有它，到2014年將銷售額做到10億美元”。這就是那些與你競爭的人。

????7. 獲得幫助。如果你住在大都市地區(qū)（特別是波士頓和紐約），那里有眾多的創(chuàng)業(yè)者網(wǎng)絡(luò)，在那里你可以從有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的人那兒獲得幫助和指導(dǎo)——而且是免費(fèi)的。還有提供免費(fèi)辦公空間的創(chuàng)業(yè)孵化基地、競賽（比如很棒的Mass Challenge）以及很多愿意提供幫助的成功企業(yè)家。

????8. 像當(dāng)初想創(chuàng)業(yè)點(diǎn)子一樣仔細(xì)思考你的商業(yè)模式。你可能有很好的點(diǎn)子，但如果你無法展示如何賺錢，那也白搭。當(dāng)然，Twitter也還沒有想明白，但你很可能不是Twitter。

????9. 區(qū)分天使資金和風(fēng)險(xiǎn)資本。前者可能是個(gè)人或一群人，他們喜歡你以及你的創(chuàng)業(yè)想法，想幫你把這個(gè)創(chuàng)想帶到一個(gè)新水平：試驗(yàn)?zāi)愕膭?chuàng)想、進(jìn)行試水、打造你的軟件等等。風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資者是更加頂真，你需要更進(jìn)一步。大多數(shù)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資（或被稱為“機(jī)構(gòu)投資”）需要看到理念的驗(yàn)證、客戶接受度等更多細(xì)節(jié)。

????10. 要自信！不要為你的不足道歉。強(qiáng)調(diào)未來業(yè)務(wù)令人激動的地方，隨時(shí)表明你將如何克服障礙。如果你從未擔(dān)任過首席執(zhí)行官，把你的顧問團(tuán)隊(duì)以及管理團(tuán)隊(duì)中其他強(qiáng)人展示給他們。

????朝目標(biāo)努力吧！最糟也不過是你不得不另找一份工作。

????黛安?赫森是Communispace的總裁兼首席執(zhí)行官，這家市場調(diào)研和社交媒體公司擁有卡夫食品（Kraft Foods）、百事（PepsiCo）、百思買（Best Buy）、惠普（Hewlett Packard）、聯(lián)邦快遞（Fedex）和嘉信理財(cái)（Charles Schwab）等客戶。作為創(chuàng)建網(wǎng)絡(luò)社區(qū)以幫助市場推廣者洞察消費(fèi)者需求的先行者，赫森在1999年聯(lián)合創(chuàng)辦了Communispace公司。赫森在30年的職業(yè)生涯中一直致力于幫助公司成為更注重顧客的企業(yè)——她既擔(dān)任過公司高管，也是暢銷書《贏得顧客心》（Customer-Centered Growth: Five Strategies for Building Competitive Advantage）的合著者。

????On Friday in Silicon Valley, I emcee'd the finale of BlogHer BET, a confab about Business, Entrepreneurism and Technology. One of my panelists was Janet Riccio, an EVP at Omnicom Group (OMC), who came on stage with 10 tips for raising start-up money. Riccio had gotten the list of tips from an entrepreneur she knows: Communispace CEO Diane Hessan, who agreed last month to sell her company to Omnicom for more than $100 million.

????Riccio connected me with Hessan -- whom I knew years ago, long before Communispace's business of helping companies on the social media front was anyone's business at all. Hessan shared her 10 tips with me, and I'm sharing with you. -- Patricia Sellers

????1. Venture capitalists are human. They like to invest in people they know…or in people their friends know. Thus, if you have no relationship with them, you are a mere business plan from a stranger. Work your network! You can get an audience with a referral, but it's really a long shot to go in cold.

????2. Expect rejection. Most people I know had to speak with a dozen VCs before they got any traction -- and many had to do more than that. You are not going to fit with everyone. So, if you have a biotech start-up, find out who the people are who like your space.

????3. Net it out. A long, boring Powerpoint presentation doesn't get anyone excited these days. That goes for VCs, too. The best presentations start with a slide that says, "Here are the eight things that I want you to walk away with." Everything else is "appendix."

????4. Ask for candid feedback. When a VC says that they are not interested, they will most likely give you a standard answer like: "This is just not the kind of company that we invest in." Politely push for a reason why. Tell them you aren't trying to change their mind, but that you just want to learn. They might then say, "Well, I just don't see how the business is scalable." Then you can probe and learn more about how to improve your business case.

????5. Don't assume it's a problem that you are a woman. So many women come to me complaining about "discrimination against women." Then I look at their business plan and it's awful! Don't learn the wrong lesson.

????6. Don't be humble. Most VCs want to make at least five times their money in a five- to 10-year span. If you are asking for $5 million and you have a business plan that shows that you canmaybe get to $10 million in revenue over 10 years, guess what? It doesn't matter what you have worn to the meeting. Be brave and bold! Men will say, "I know that this is a competitive space, but we believe that we can own it and do $1 billion in sales by 2014." This is what you are competing with.

????7. Get help. If you're in a major metropolitan area (especially Boston and NYC) there are tons of networks for entrepreneurs where you can get help and mentoring from experienced people -- for free. There are incubators with free office space, competitions (a great one is Mass Challenge) and lots of successful entrepreneurs who are ready to assist.

????8. Think as hard about your business model as your idea. You might have a great idea, but if you can't demonstrate how you will make money, it doesn't matter. Sure, Twitter didn't have that figured out yet, but you are most likely not Twitter.

????9. Distinguish between angel money and venture capital. The former can be an individual or a group of people who like you and your idea and want to help you take it to the next level: to pilot your idea, to test the waters, to build out your software, or the like. Venture investors are more serious and you need to be further along. Most venture funding (otherwise called "institutional funding") want to see proof of concept, customer acceptance and more.

????10. Be confident! Don't apologize for your shortcomings. Emphasize the excitement around your prospective business and be ready to say how you will overcome obstacles. If you haven't been a CEO before, show them your advisory board and the rest of your management team who will complement you.

????Go for it! The worst thing that happens is that you have to find a job.

????Diane Hessan is President and CEO of Communispace, a market research and social media company with clients including Kraft Foods (KFT), PepsiCo (PEP), Best Buy (BBY), Hewlett Packard (HPQ), Fedex (FDX) and Charles Schwab (SCHW). A pioneer in creating online communities to help marketers gain consumer insights, Hessan co-founded Communispace in 1999. Diane has spent her 30-year career helping companies become customer-focused -- as an executive and as co-author of the best-seller Customer-Centered Growth: Five Strategies for Building Competitive Advantage.