I'm not in the valley, but Steve Blank is, and he suggests "business models" instead of business plans. They are a set of questions that your business needs to find answers to as it goes along: http://steveblank.com/2010/05/17/no-one-wins-in-business-pla...

also, plans are useless but planning is invaluable; that helps with actual success, not so sure about getting funded.