Jackpot! Why bet the farm on an unknown VC when you can find a source with the funds and know-how you need to take your business to the big-money table?

Do you see the glass as half empty or half full? If you'rein the former camp, you may view the tech wreck as the death knellfor early-stage funding. If you're in the latter camp, youprobably see a much different picture. Despite the tumult, cash isstill available. But you need to give investors a reason toinvest.

Sunil Dhaliwal, a senior associate with Battery Ventures, aWellesley, Massachusetts, venture capital firm with $1.8 billionunder management, looks at a half-full glass.

"If you believe early-stage funding can't be found,that's tantamount to saying there's no more innovation leftto be funded," says Dhaliwal. "It's highly unlikelythat 2001 is the year that innovation will cease toexist."