Thousands of companies in Utah are looking to raise money, sell their companies and a few are ready to go public. If you are one of them, don’t get discouraged by the funding rollercoaster.

I’ve heard venture capitalists say that only one in 400 business plans will be actively pursued, and of that group, only one in 20 will be funded. Last year, 131 companies in Utah successfully raised $50,000 or more from their funding efforts, according to the 2007 Utah Deal Flow Report by MountainWest Capital Network. Nine companies went public valued at $3.2 billion, led by Boart Longyear at $2.2 billion and Energy Solutions at $753 million.

If those numbers seem out of your league, then let’s focus on the 69 deals done by companies turning to venture capital and private equity funds totaling $565 million. Before we get too excited about a half billion dollars going to our local companies, a company called 212 Resources already took their “unfair share” of the bucket at $250 million of the total.

Utah had more than 50 companies merge or be acquired last year with a whopping total valuation of $4.5 billion, which is almost double the level of the year before.

I have personally enjoyed the thrill of several rounds of multi-million-dollar funding events, but I have also experienced the frustrations of conflicting agendas and countless rejections that wear you down and you begin to question the validity of your business model. The companies with good odds of raising capital, merging, and being acquired or going public become an elite club.

It is often said that Utah does not have enough capital available for the venture deals in our state. Better said, there is plenty of capital in Utah for good deals, there isn’t enough capital for bad deals. If you are looking to fund or sell your business, you must determine how your deal is perceived. If you truly believe with all your heart in the business proposition you are pursuing, there will be a funding event one day. The problem is that some businesses can’t hang on long enough to enjoy that day.

As CEO of a high-tech company in Utah, our first round of funding happened after 67 formal rejections. Years later, our next round of funding happened after 42 rejections, and that is with the original investors participating. If you are not tenacious by nature, I do not recommend the world of seeking capital investment.

If you are one of the companies looking to fund but have been on the outside looking in at the $8 billion in deal flow last year, there are resources you can turn to for help in our business community. The first step begins by asking where you can get the help needed to close a deal. You’d be surprised at the number of resources and people willing to help.

John M. Knab is the director of MountainWest Capital Network, founder of Utah 100, CEO of Phonex Broadband Corp. and director with Bayhill Capital. He can be reached at jk@phonex.com.