(Editor’s note: Scott Edward Walker is the founder and CEO of Walker Corporate Law Group, PLLC, a law firm specializing in the representation of entrepreneurs. He submitted this column to VentureBeat.)

I have provided legal counsel and assistance to hundreds of entrepreneurs over my 15-year career. A recurring question among those clients has been ‘Why do some entrepreneurs make it, while others fail?’

November 10, 2010 by Jeff Bussgang General Partner at Flybridge Capital Partners. This column originally appeared on his blog Seeing Both Sides.)

In his best-selling book “Blink,” Malcolm Gladwell made famous the natural human reaction of quickly judging other people.  This behavior is especially true of VCs and angel investors. The first few minutes of an interaction are crucial.

The way an entrepreneur starts an investor pitch meeting can actually determine their success in that meeting.  Those first 10-15 minutes, where the entrepreneur presents himself or herself – before they even present the idea – establish not only credibility, but the right to continue to pitch to an engaged audience.

Mid-Market Index rose to 6.4x historical EBITDA, an increase of 7% over its level recorded in December 2009 (6.2x).

This increase in mid-market valuations occured in an M&A market where the activity remained weak during the first half year, with the exception of mid-market LBO transactions which were more numerous compared to previous periods.

These valuations remain far below the valuations reached during H2 2006 and H1 2007 at 9x EBITDA.

According to the AFIC (Capital Investment French Association) and Grant Thornton's figures, the investments in capital investment increased again on H1 2010. They improved by 66 % at 2,9 Md€. The situation is however contrasted : venture capital decreased by 21 % whereas capital development increased by 16 % and capital transmission by 280 %. Disinvestments increased by 23 %

The number of companies involved in raising funds increased by 5 % with a 2 % drop for venture capital, a 13 % progress for capital development and a decline of 2 % for capital transmission. It shows that the average amount of the deals progressed.

Le 15 décembre 2010 par Jason Baptiste (CEO et fondateur de PadPressed et co auteur du OnStartups blog où cet article a initialement été publié

On parle toujours de la fin du jeu pour les start ups que ce soit par une acquisition, un financement ou la faillite. Mais on parle beaucoup moins de la dure réalité de la vie d’entrepreneur. Cet article n’est pas fait pour vous démoraliser, bien au contraire. En connaissant la dure réalité à laquelle vous allez être confrontés, vous pouvez vous y préparer. Voici les quelques réalités desquelles on ne parle jamais et auxquelles les entrepreneurs sont confrontées.