Just to answer the last question, successful B2B firms provide provable ROI. The company I'm with currently has a couple thousand customers, and every single sa

Just to answer the last question, successful B2B firms provide provable ROI. The company I'm with currently has a couple thousand customers, and every single sale is about proving our product will provide a return that exceeds the time and money invested in it. That said, you usually need a 'lighthouse'. This is a term commonly used for a reasonably sized firm which had taken the leap with your product and can be shown or referenced to future potential customers. This is why partnering with a customer can be a good path. It provides immediate feedback on your product, and also gives you a showcase for future prospects. In your situation, I would probably be looking for a customer that stood to greatly profit from the use of your product and try to pitch it to them as an R&D investment. To be honest, this won't be that much harder than your first B2B sale would normally be, as either way there's no proof of ROI. If you're dead set on VC, then you need to figure out how much of your product it would actually be possible to sell. If that number is in the billions (which means you must be generating more than that for your customers), then think about everything which gives your group a first move advantage and allows you to become a near monopoly. If that all adds up, then VC money may be right for you. If not, VC money could drag down an otherwise good idea.