The Four Main Things that Investors Look for in a Startup (bothsidesofthetable.com)

So, basically, don't raise money until you have traction, at which point you probably don't need to raise money.

Got it.

I think most people, VCs included, cannot really see an opportunity until it's obvious. So, there is a lot of after the fact pattern matching. These days, it is social gaming, a year ago it was "real time". The few that are really visionary or lucky are the big winners

I don't know/care about your four reasons, as they are all intrinsic to me but I do want to comment on when someone should meet with investors. To me the best time to meet with investors is when you are not raising money.

If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have had 9 term sheets / offers to pick from when raising my previous round. I would have had to race around and try to get meetings. Instead, we emailed people we knew and pitched for 3 straight weeks and closed quickly with plenty of market checks and opportunity to make the best choice for the company.