Adeo Ressi, founder of TheFunded, an acerbic site where entrepreneurs review venture capitalists, dropped by the office of McDonough Holland & Allen the other day. That law firm represents EDF Ventures, which is the VC firm that's to be avoided unless you're "desperate," according to TheFunded's users. EDF is suing in order to reveal the identity of a critic who posted a poor review of the Michigan-based fund for misrepresentation. A common practice among VCs embarrassed by bad reviews.Ressi had the cheek to make a little video where he personally delivers the documents EDF requested. He assures the audience that they contain no information that will identify "John Doe," the unnamed defendant in the suit. The smiling Ressi makes a thumbs-up gesture at the end, clearly mocking the litigants. It also suggests that such charming and friendly customer service can be yours if you pay to promote your fund on the site.

Venture capitalists are rigorously image-conscious — and laughably bad, for the most part, at keeping up appearances. Take EDF Ventures, an obscure Michigan VC firm, which may well have gotten a bum rap on TheFunded.com, a VC-ratings site. After issuing a subpoena to find the identity of the entrepreneur who said the VC firm was "to be avoided unless you are desperate," it has now filed a lawsuit against the anonymous commenter. "If someone lies about you, it isn't right," says Mary Campbell, the firm's founder.EDF's main factual quibble: The poster claimed to have worked with EDF on "several deals." EDF partner Mike DeVries says the company has never done multiple deals with the same entrepreneur. Which just goes to show how tone-deaf EDF's legal adventure is. Most venture capitalists love to talk about how they keep entrepreneurs coming back for more. That EDF has never worked with the same entrepreneur twice is a far more damning admission — from the mouth of one of EDF's partners! — than anything written on TheFunded.com. Campbell and DeVries might be able to prove their point, at the cost of further damage to their firm's reputation. Far better for EDF to have focused on the commenter's claim that EDF's deal terms are harsh. The PE Data Center, a research service, finds that EDF's terms, on balance, favor neither the investor nor the entrepreneur.