Don't throw curveballs

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"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"

- The Golden Rule

Media is a difficult game - the stakes are high, the risks are great, the potential is unparalleled. The temptation for fraud, deceipt and outright theft are just as big. Avoiding these temptations makes you more than a good businessman, it makes you a good person.

There is a tendency amongst creative people towards despair. The road to success is very long and very hard. Once you've achieved success you often find the road is still very long and very hard. You fight the same battles over and over and over again. That's the burden of the artist. But try to maintain perspective - however difficult your path, you get to be working on music, or film, or whatever. It's a blessing, there are many who never get the opportunity to face the challenges you take for granted.

As we wallow in despair and self-pity, we run the danger of becoming aggressively cynical. We look to investors - people who grace us with access to their money to achieve our dreams - with disdain. We act as if they owe us their money and begrudge their desire for us to prove our worth. What a terribly backwards perspective!

Respect your potential and actual investors. Treat them as you would want them to treat you, even if they seem mean. Whatever you do, do not lie to them. When money is on the line lies become fraud and fraud becomes a jail sentence, or a lawsuit, or a terrible reputation. There are only so many investors, and they talk to each other. Play nice and they'll say good things. If you think it's difficult getting investors now, try it with the reputation of a con. There's a reason snake-oil salesmen always left town quickly.

Maintain a realistic perspective, you are selling a high-risk investment. If you do your homework, prepare your project well, and present a perfect pitch you are still trying to sell an investment that can result in complete failure. Top professionals with outstanding track records fail all the time. It's the nature of the business. With such high-risk ANY sale to ANY investor will be difficult. You have to seek investors that can withstand total loss, and these are knowledgeable investors that know how high-risk your project is. Get your ducks in a straight line.

DO NOT seek investors that don't have this knowledge. It's tempting to look for investors that don't realize how risky your project actually is. Only pitch to investors that can sustain total failure. You certainly can pitch to people without the proper financial reserves to take the hit, but I don't know how well you'll sleep. At the very least, you are legally required to be honest about the risk. Any deception about the incredibly risky nature and complete unpredictability of profitability can land you on the receiving end of a legal ass-kicking. You don't want to be the target of any energetic lawyer. If the lawyer is right you are doubley screwed.