Kevin Rose's tips on getting VC investment

Kevin Rose, CEO of Milk and co-host of Diggnation, has a few successful (Digg) and not successful (Pownce) startups. But through all that work he's talked with a lot of VCs, invests in companies himself, and has heard a lot of pitches. At the Future of Web Apps conference in Las Vegas, I asked Rose to give me a few tips on how to get VC investment:
• Go to where people are investing in what you're building -- If you're building something in tech, you'll find a high concentration of tech investors in the Bay Area (Silicon Valley to San Francisco).
• Don't create huge projections -- Investors aren't going to believe them, and nobody can predict what's going to happen six months out.
• Don't put together complicated pitches -- A couple of pages should be enough to get the point across.
• Create a working prototype -- People want to see what you're working on.
• Do an anti-pitch. Be passionate -- Best pitch Rose ever got was from Ubango. Someone just came to him who was very passionate about the space. The two of them connected and Rose invested.
• Make sure your talent shines through -- Ideas come and go. Ultimately what VCs are looking for is talent. If this idea doesn't work out, they want to know they can use you for something else.

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• angels
• investment
• startups