Under #6 I would also add – Write a killer cover letter.

As an employer always on the look out for good talent. However, I get a lot of impersonal emails and cover letters. All it takes is a few lines of what you like about the company and why your capabilities are a good fit for us.

I would also add – and this is related to your “Get Paid” point – Seek Transparency. Don’t accept a job at a startup if you don’t have a window into their funding, spending (aka burn rate) and financial performance. And transparency extends to other strategic decisions that the fledgling company is considering making, too. The catch is this: you must have some value to offer the founders when they share this information with you. But this way you won’t be caught unprepared when the startup heads south because of strategic errors.

If you dont have relevant experience, start with this Directory of Boston VCs and investments.
http://blog.bos.genotrope.com/boston-vc-directory/

You don’t decide on a job, you decide on a company, so start there, and find the company that you like and is a “fit” for you, there might be several jobs you can do there.

I once sent a cover letter that started, “I want to have your baby but will settle for a job.” While that probably wouldn’t fly with a Fortune 500, for that company it did.

Rusty, awesome advice as always. If nothing else, asking high level questions about the company as well as the job shows that you’re thinking big picture and not just next paycheck.