Some founders may hold the view that the time necessary to keep the venture capitalist in the loop is better spent on the pressing tasks of acquiring customers, running the business or upgrading product offerings. This is a misconception. Developing good lines of communication with venture capitalists is vital to ensuring that any partnership that may materialize is the best possible fit. In short, it can save time, effort and grief down the road. Transparent and effective communications will give you a positive image and may result in side benefits, like introductions to potential partners, clients, even employees. Remember, venture capitalists are well-connected people.

Making the effort to communicate positively with your venture capitalist doesn’t really require large chunks of your time, won’t cost you money or require a lot of effort and by doing this you won’t have so much of your attention drawn away from the nuts and bolts of running your business during a capital raise because you have already established the relationships and communicated your goals with the VCs. This frees you from a last minute scramble and allows you to remain focused on running things.