Venture capital is about capturing the value between the startup phase and the public company phase.

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

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."

Here's what you should say [to investor]: "This is what my company does..." It's that simple. What you're trying to do is get potential investors to fantasize about how your product or service will make a boatload of money. They can't fantasize if they don't know what you do.

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?"

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