Doodling may not sound productive, but done the right way, it can help energize, organize, and sell a startup’s mission. So says Kevin Cheng, a well-regarded designer who spent years developing products at Yahoo; Raptr, the social network for gamers; and Twitter, and who more recently cofounded Incredible Labs

Call them the cream of the venture crop, the 472 high flying U.S.-based companies with valuations above $100 million and exciting businesses to justify them.

As recovery continues after the storm First Read brings you the latest start-up deal update, how European bank deleveraging is offering opportunities for emerging market private equity investors and also takes a look at whether we should trust the Force following Disney’s LucasFilm deal.

This morning First Read brings you the latest on Thomson Reuters’ investable venture capital index; where buyout firms are seeking more dividend loans and finds out what states are laden with the most student debt and therefore hungry to earn back the cash.

Scroll down this morning’s First Read to find out where private equity is at in the next year, where Twitter’s design director has gone and how to fix your email overload.

Mobile app development startup Cabana has been acquired by Twitter. The business will be shutting down on December 1st 2012.

This morning First Read brings you an optimistic venture fundraising review of the last quarter, less good news about the impact of the Euro crisis on global financial confidence and some unfortunate stories about the automobile industry.

Some investors aggressively court media attention, while others avoid it like a bacterial infection. As for low-flying XG Ventures in Palo Alto, its founders say they’ve got nothing against some press; they’ve just been a bit busy.

SV Angel is in the market for a fresh $40 million, according to a new SEC filing.

Click on this morning’s First Read to find out about Avalon Ventures’ tenth fund, Mango Health’s stellar fundraising and why venture capital is most definitely not broken.