Straight from the Seattle Lunch 2.0 meetup at SEOmoz on August 14th comes this light-hearted look at raising venture capital.  SEOmoz CEO, Rand Fishkin, shares his experiences with raising capital with an amusing (but strangely appropriate) comparison to the dating scene.

SEOmoz emerged from our first round of VC funding with a profitable and growing business. Now seeking a B round, we get to see how things change with company size, shifting market dynamics, and a different pool of interested investors.

If you've ever wondered what the VC process is like for a small business, this presentation will give you a good idea of what to expect should you ever go on the hunt for capital.

SEOmoz: 10 Disturbing Similarities Between Dating & Raising Capital from Scott Willoughby on Vimeo.

Postscript From Rand: This presentation is much longer than our typical Whiteboard Friday (about 22 minutes), but is fun if you're interested in the VC world. I also wanted to note that if you're interested in exactly what SEOmoz is up to on the VC front, this blog post is helpful to read. Once we wrap up the process (and, as noted, we may not end up taking capital if we don't like the deal terms), I'll be sure to give lots more insight into our experience. As I note in the video, it's a rollercoaster ride, it takes up incredibly amounts of time and it's massively stressful, but hopefully, at the end of the day, worthwhile.

For some additional good reading on the topic, see Paul Graham's "Ramen Profitable" as well as Fred Wilson's post on why the VC world is due for some potential shrinkage.