Lessons Learned: Blurb CEO Eileen Gittins says raising money is like dating

Eileen Gittins, the founder and CEO of the online publishing service Blurb, says raising money from investors is like dating.

"When you're married or attached, people want your number, but when you're looking for a date, no one calls," Gittins says.

The lesson? Take cash when you can get it. "Cash is still king," she says.

Another piece of advice? Work on something you're passionate about and work with people you like to work with. In other words, "have fun," says Gittins, who adds that being CEO of Blurb is the most fun she's ever had in a job.

The company, which makes it easy for anyone to publish a book, is quickly turning the publishing industry on its head, as she told us in previous interviews here and here. 

Gittins also echoed something we've heard from other entrepreneurs such as Sajjad Jaffer. Rather than spending time trying to imagine what your customers want, get the first version of your product out there and let your customers tell you what they want.

"If you spend a lot of time imagining, you've got a good chance of being wrong," says Gittins the one-time CEO of Personify and a former executive with Kodak and Wall Data..