BuzzLogic co-founder and chief product officer Todd Parsons says learning to listen to your gut and your market are two of the most valuable lessons for a startup entrepreneur.

In Vator.tv's latest installment of our series where we ask startup execs and investors to share with our audience what they've learned, Parsons also cites the oft-repeated entrepreneurial mantra of persistence.

"Persistence solves problems," Parsons says, explaining how he and BuzzLogic CEO Rob Crumpler met with between 30 and 40 Silicon Valley venture capital firms before finding ones that would fund the firm on terms that worked for the company. BuzzLogic closed a Series A round for $9.6 million in January, 2007.

BuzzLogic uses algorithms and other analytical tools to measure the relative influence of bloggers and others who post stories on the Internet. The fact they were attacking a new market created a challenge for them among VCs, says Parsons, who's on his third startup.