One of the most important things to think about when you are stepping into a venture is how you would want to leave it. Are you planning on taking your company public (likely not), vying for an acquisition, or maybe looking to raise more funding and build it as large as it will go.

Entrepreneur Magazine has a good article on startup exit strategies, that’s worth reading if you have ever wondered how to make a graceful exit.

Clarissa Desjardins on Startup Success Factors.

Charles Plant is an entrepreneur who has been on all sides of the funding equation, from banker, to technology entrepreneur to angel, investment banker and now on the Investment Accelerator Fund Management Committee. He takes you through the steamy underside of VC deals, what some call “The Art of the Deal” — he’ll show you “The Art of the Steal.”

[Said differently, this is a really interesting take on the venture capital model]

RWW profiles MetaASO, another case of “smart” self-funding. Some interesting tidbits for anyone interested in starting a business with the money in their piggy-bank.

Here is one of two case studies I came across from a self-funded startup. Slidesix is an opensource, self-funded project with a single developer in a competitive market. This post gives you an interesting perspective on how its developer has dealt with the challenges of running it.

Startup Nation goes over some of the ways that you can self fund your next venture. They explore the forms of capital (from loans to retirement accounts) available to get you the cash you will need to start out.

This is a really great segment on CNBC on how some companies are using this economic downturn to fuel innovation. This is really the key to the entire puzzle, while a slowing economy will take a bite out of your ability to raise funds and grow along “traditional” lines — tighter belts also spurs innovation — forcing us to work smarter and harder to make certain we have clear goals and a clearer path to profitability.

This is a strangely prophetic article from March 2008 brought to us by Entrepreneur Magazine. It gives some really great tips about surviving as an entrepreneur in a down economy. The core belief is one we share here, as an entrepreneur your job is two-fold:

1. To generate more resources for growth.
2. To use the resources that are available to you more effectively.

When one isn’t possible you just need to focus your attention even more strongly on the second.

Alright, alright, I just thought this was funny. If you are going to pitch a VC to help get the funding you need — learn to pitch correctly. This video might help or it might make you chuckle — either way it has been successful.