Need money for your Web 2.0 startup?

Some of the most interesting panels of the Mesh Conference were those touching on the matter of Venture Capitalists. While everyone agrees these are good times to launch a new business, taking advantage of the new wave of enthusiasm around Web 2.0, I think the best advise we got during the Conference was that if you don't need VC money, don't take it. Take it and it will affect the dynamics of your startup, corrupting the fundamental energy at the core of every enterpreneur's dream. This was fundamentally the message from Jason Fried from 37signals, using his own company as a case study for a new model for enterpreneurship.

We're lucky that most of the services needed to run a new business have been commoditized to the point where a startup can be funded by a credit card, almost making it too attractive and creating an abundant offer of dreamers, all willing to run the risk.

It's almost too good to believe that VCs are hunting for the good opportunities, but judging from an offer from Rick Segal to listen to any and every pitch for at least half hour for free, you got to believe they don't want to miss on the opportunity and can feel the ideas are cooking all around but not coming to them.

Additional free advise collected throughout the sessions:

• Talk to universities to find great students to power your idea


• Don't need to go to the Valley. It doesn't matter where people are. Just hire the best you can find


• If you're building a web project, you don't need more than 3 people. If you do, the product is too complex


• Outteach the competition


• Track Open Source programmers who care about what they do


• Invest in a good brand name. Is worth it


• Ship early, ship often


• Don't plan more than a week ahead. Develop your next iteration based on market reaction to remain ahead

Tags: Mesh06