The ultimate goal when creating a startup is to join the ranks of giants like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Uber, Airbnb, but there are quite a few hazards along that path. Often this can involve getting major investment capital. Now imagine you get that $20 million investment, then the real stress starts. My guest for this week's episode did just that. Rand Fishkin is the founder and former CEO of Moz, and currently the founder and CEO of SparkToro. He's the author of Lost and Founder, which charts the rise of his eight-figure SEO technology company Moz and his rocky dealings with venture capitalists along the way. He pulls no punches sharing the realities of dealing with venture capitalists, sometimes known as vulture capitalists, and how they change the shape of his company and not in the way he wanted. Rand is also my co-author on the first two editions of The Art of SEO, which is considered to be the Bible on search engine optimization back in 2009. That book really solidified my leadership position in the SEO world. And for that, I am forever grateful. In this episode, we discussed the realities of VC investments, his tell-all book, and managing your business in our current climate. If you've ever considered growing your business by courting investors, or even if that's the farthest thing from what you want to do, do stick around. You're about to learn some valuable advice and uncomfortable truths you won't get anywhere else. This episode originally aired on my other show, Get Yourself Optimized as episode number 167. If you haven't done so already, please go subscribe to my other podcast before continuing with this episode. I promise you it'll be worth your while. And now, on with the show.