Experiences is every dollar you earn they will earn ten dollars. Also you are expected to work to your death for their investments.
Not tried venture capital but explored Angel Funding. For me it was way too much hassle, too much wanting ridiculous amounts & too many time wasters. For me it was easier to borrow off a bank or earn the money yourself. But the circumstances are different for everyone - I'd say it is at least worth exploring if you have a good idea and have done a proof of concept.
You have to prepare tons of reports and projections and marketing plans, it aint easy nowadays. Previously angel funds throw money at anything related to Internet. Nowadays, they are extremely prudent.
yeah, we inquired about Angel Investing and VC and found it to be too much of a hassle. Unless you need a TON of money, we found it was easier to just earn it ourselves or borrow from a bank. Nowadays, it seems more like the route to take to start something off HUGE... i.e. Youtube... or a movie theater chain... We'd prefer to start off small and grow the business ourselves, reaping all of the benefits instead of half. Not to mention avoiding all the unessecary sales pitchs/presentations document/revenue figure preperation etc.. that is involved with finding funding now. These days investors all seem to want large amounts of equity in internet businesses and it's simply not worth it to us. Like the dude above said, they used to throw money at anything internet related... Now they are prudent, want a large stake of equity, and will hound you for their investments..... If your business fails you're screwed! Might as well only have it on you rather than owing someone tens to hundreds of thousands (in the case of most internet businesses, which can be started fairly cheaply).
They really do not give a ton of money, rather it is dispensed periodically depending on whether you meet the benchmark or not. I would say that getting VC is not about getting the money but rather their management expertise for your eventual listing.