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Increase, decrease, rise, slide - the economy can't make up its mind.  The Dow's down almost 170 points at the moment, though, and companies looking for money might want to check out a new list of popular venture capitalists.

TheFunded.com put together the list based on its members' ratings of the individuals.  Certain rules (VCs "must have been rated by over five separate Members . . . must have a rating average at or above a score of four out of five," and so on) try to keep things fair, and the list gets updated on a weekly basis.

 TheFunded's Top-Rated VCs

However, Matt Marshall notes, "This 'top-rated' list is highly subjective.  TheFunded has drawn many members dissatisfied with the venture capital funding process, and who have an ax to grind - and so many members tend to be critical in their reviews.  Still, since the top-rated VCs need a ratio of at least five favorable reviews to every negative one, the list consists of those who have managed not to piss off too many entrepreneurs."

At the momemt, Eric Archambeau of Wellington Partners holds the number one spot.  Peter Solvik of Sigma Partners is number two, and Rob Theis of Scale Venture Partners comes in at number three.

It's not hard to imagine some VCs planting positive reviews to bring in business, while others may eventually sabotage their own ratings to reduce inquiries to a manageable level.  Good luck to both them and the cash-seekers.