ReadWriteWeb

Failure. All startups fear it. Many, at one point or another, encounter it. There's no denying that failure is a big part of startup culture. Some of the best and brightest preach the "fail fast" methodology, wherein quickly launching and fixing small failures can help avoid "the big one."

Whether you subscribe to this practice or not, the reality is that startups fail all the time, and luckily many entrepreneurs share their experiences "post-mortem" with the community. We've covered a handful of these posts from startups, but now ChubbyBrain has put together a hefty collection of these essays for your education.

A majority of the advice aimed at helping startups manage relationships with venture capitalists is tailored for when that startup is raising or has raised funding. Certainly a lot of the interaction between startups and investors takes place during and after financing rounds, but there is a lot entrepreneurs can be doing before they seek funding to set themselves up for success with VCs. In a response to a question on the Q&A site Quora, VC Mark Suster offered his advice to entrepreneurs on how to manage relationships with VCs before fundraising begins.

Any frequent reader of ReadWriteWeb should know that mobility is one of the most significant trends we've been tracking. One thing we haven't discussed much in the realm of mobile, however, is how startups and entrepreneurs can take advantage and prepare themselves for a venture into mobile. Today I spoke with Steve Eisenberg, a business development consultant for MRN Digital Media, and he was kind enough to share some insights that startups may find valuable before diving into the mobile market head-first.

Ever wondered what goes on inside the brain of a venture capitalist? What kinds of companies do they look for? What most impresses them about entrepreneurs? Where do they see the industry heading? Certainly these are all things that any early stage startup or first time entrepreneur would find value in knowing from a VC - especially one with several years of experience in a particular industry. Today I had the opportunity to pick the brain of Matt Fates, a partner at Boston's Ascent Venture Partners, a firm focusing on early stage investments. Here's what he had to say about these questions.

There comes a time in the evolution of successful startups where they make the move from garages, apartments and coffee shops into actual office space. Some even take this opportunity to change cities, but finding decent office space isn't as easy as finding an apartment or a bedroom to rent on Craigslist.

Rofo, a site offering commercial real estate listings, tries to solve this problem by simplifying connections between smaller landlords and real estate brokers. With a new LinkedIn application launching today from Rofo, young companies can track local deals and find the best brokers for their needs.

While we have chronicled some of the best cities around the globe for startups to set-up shop, the San Francisco area is still the promised land for Internet entrepreneurship. Others come close, but no other city can match the vibrant atmosphere that flourishes in the Bay Area, but what are the best neighborhoods for tapping into the startup ecosystem? Posterous co-founder Garry Tan has sought to solve this problem for San Francisco newcomers by creating an interactive Google map detailing the area's top 10 startup camps.

Sure, it may be obvious to point out that location-based services (LBS) are growing in popularity and may be a great gravy train for young entrepreneurs to hop on, but the recent evolution of the platform has broadened the opportunities for startups. With the opening of Google Latitude's API earlier this week and other developments in the mobile space in recent months, the number of niches for startups to fill is quickly expanding.

TechStars founder David Cohen posted an insightful blog post earlier this week that mentioned the impact second generation entrepreneurs are having on the current generation of first-time innovators. As Cohen points out, five companies from the 2007 Boulder TechStars class Brightkite, Filtrbox, Intense Debate, MadKast and SocialThing. As the entrepreneurs behind these companies continue on to found their second round of startups, they are simultaneously providing for the newer classes that come through the incubator.

The businesses of the 21st century are rapidly evolving to incorporate radical new methods of running a business and managing employees, and no group knows this better than the startup community. Startups have been at the cutting edge of innovation not only in the products they create, but in the way they run their companies and treat their workers. In this week's Weekend Reading selection, we look into how years of scientific research has uncovered what motivates people to be outstanding employees and how successful companies are incorporating these methods.

In the recent months, entrepreneurship has been a hot topic in Washington. From the proposed Startup Visa, to Senator Dodd's financial reform strategies and even to the overall need for more job creation - many agree that entrepreneurship will play a large role in turning this country's economic woes around. But one group in support of entrepreneurship is asking for something a little different from the President: a national holiday.