A few days ago I posted an entry on 20 ideas venture capitalists would be willing to back with $100M. Well, Business 2.0 released the antithesis for that today in a short and direct article; examples of ideas VCs won’t back.

This list is harder to collect as VCs are very reluctant to discuss them, but everyone has seen some real stinkers over time. My favorite is the individual looking for $10M to make a film, based on a book, based on their life. A great way for investors to lose $10M fast.

Another great place to see some “interesting” ideas is Patently Silly, a collection of ideas that might have been better left unrealized. Only in this case, the innovators went so far as to patent them. There’s a blog dedicated to bad ideas located here – though it seems to be something of a cobweb. A Google search on bad invention yields 16.4 million hits.

The challenge for all innovators and investors is to sort through the ideas recognizing that there are very few worthy of investment. And then, investors aren’t simply looking for a single shot, but investing in a team with experience able to churn out results based on those ideas time after time.

Edison had it right when he said “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Accordingly, a ‘genius’ is often merely a person who has done his or her homework.” Make sure you take the time to vet your ideas and your execution plans in advance of seeking funding for the best chance of positive results.

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