To help startups navigate through the funding process, Mixergy recently invited two speakers to talk about how to get investment for a new business.

William Quigley, Managing Director at Clearstone Venture Partners, spoke from the point of view of an investor.

Rahul Sonnad gave the entrepreneur's perspective, since he founded thePlatform which was sold to Comcast and is now working on his latest startup Geodelic Systems.

Each speaker gave a candid view of what new entrepreneurs should expect. William, for example, explained why most venture capitalists don't say "no" to the entrepreneurs that they don't fund. To help entrepreneurs pick up on clues that they're being turned down, he gave them a list of phrases to look for. For example, when an investor says, "I'd like to see more traction," what he's really saying is, "I don't believe your idea will work. Grow it to prove to me that you're right."

Sonnad talked about the hard times he faced in the first two years before he got funding for thePlatform. He talked about the different paths thePlatform took before settling on video distribution.

TechZulu was the media sponsor for this event. To view the event coverage hit the jump.

To view the live footage starting from the audience questions, click the jump.

Looking for VC funding right now is just a waste of your time. Or is it?  Last week Dealmaker Media held the VC Outlook for the 2009 year and the VC's are not shutting their doors yet. The economy is not in tip-top shape right now, but the money is out there. The days of finding easy money with just a cool idea or a nice looking site are done.  VC's are looking for companies with real business-models and revenue.  They understand that being cashflow positive can be an issue when you do not have the proper finances to do so, but that is where they like to come in and help get you to that next level.  Watch for yourself what each VC had to say about the issue and how not every VC thinks the same.

Moderator:
Jason Nazaar, Founder, DocStoc

Speakers:
David Travers, Associate Rustic Canyon Ventures
Brian Garrett, Managing Director, Cross Cut Ventures
Jim Armstrong, Managing Director, Clearstone Venture Partners
Mark Suster, Partner, GRP Partners

To view the rest of VC OUTLOOK '09 hit the jump.

"William Quigley is a managing director at Clearstone Venture Partners. During his first two-and-a-half years with the firm, he worked out of the idealab! incubator and helped launch and lead investments in many idealab! backed companies including Homepage.com, FreePC, FreeMusic.com and Paymybills.com.

William’s current portfolio reflects his belief in the enormous opportunity in the wireless consumer and enterprise markets (AOptix, SoonR, Meru Networks, Novariant).   He is also focused on emerging companies offering managed services in the enterprise and consumer sectors (Communicado, Spock Networks).   William is a member of the board of directors of AOptix Technologies, Communicado, Meru Networks, Novariant, SoonR and Spock.com.

William joined Clearstone from Mid-Atlantic Venture Funds, where he invested in early- stage communications companies targeting the software, equipment and service sectors. At MAVF, he was responsible for investments in Integrated Chipware, a real time embedded OS developer, Wisor Telecom, an OSS vendor to telecom service providers and NexTone Communications, a manufacturer of voice over IP equipment.

William received his MBA, with distinction, from Harvard Business School, and holds a BS in Accounting, with honors, from the University of Southern California."

William goes into the mobile advertising space and what he views the future will be.  He also goes into what he personally feels about the future of iphone and mobile video.