Comments on: Don't Blame Venture Woes on the Economy; It's the VCs' Fault

By: As VC Industry Shrinks, First-Time Investments Plummet – GigaOM

As VC Industry Shrinks, First-Time Investments Plummet – GigaOM — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:01:31 +0000

[...] in venture fundraising, which fell 47 percent in 2009. Still, the second half of the year generated more robust dealflow, with more than $10.1 billion invested after July [...]

By: 2010 Will See Some Venture Firms Fold – GigaOM

2010 Will See Some Venture Firms Fold – GigaOM — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:30:09 +0000

[...] feeling the crunch of a crappy economy — and because the venture funds themselves often had little to show after years of lame exits. It’s kind of like a teenager who doesn’t want to bug his laid-off mom for an [...]

By: Is the VC Industry Ready to Change or Just Short on Cash?

Is the VC Industry Ready to Change or Just Short on Cash? — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:57:22 +0000

[...] which makes sense given the lousy exit environments, stagnant returns and the worries that the VC model is broken. Limited partners also have less money to allocate to venture capital as they see their own [...]

By: jennifer hicks

jennifer hicks — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 07:17:48 +0000

Excellent post Stacy — am tired of economy is to blame stories. Was at private investor round table in Prague 2 weeks ago and the room discussed just this point about early stage but also the issue of keeping the entrepreneurial spirit alive and how to foster early stage to get them to the bigger rounds — are we going to miss some good technology/innovation? or will this make early stage a bit more creative and resilient in terms of how they create sustainable business model.

By: The Silver Bullet

The Silver Bullet — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:42:02 +0000

@Jonathan

Your comment “… and for those of us that are in the trenches funding early stage businesses …” reminded me of this post …

Venture Capitalists and the Silver Bullet
http://www.plumbersurplus.com/Blog/post/2009/05/Venture-Capitalists-and-the-Silver-Bullet.aspx

Near the end, the author integrates venture capitalists’ unwillingness to get in the trenches to the absence of investments, which get’s back to Stacey’s comment that ” … they couldn’t see where to put large amounts of money and make great returns …”.

Food for thought …

By: Kedrosky: Cut the VC Industry in Half

Kedrosky: Cut the VC Industry in Half — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:40:39 +0000

[...] size to depressed returns. It’s a data-rich, authoritative look at the issues I wrote about yesterday after the NVCA released a survey that shows how ill-adapted many venture firms are to the changed world of technology [...]

By: Danilo D

Danilo D — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:53:44 +0000

It all look like governments around the Globe are going to get bigger, before they get leanner.

I would like to know what the trend in US direct foreign investments in developing countries, as it still looks at a good opportunity.

By: Jonathan Aberman

Jonathan Aberman — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:33:30 +0000

That was a very useful post, and for those of us that are in the trenches funding early stage businesses not as surprising. What is happening, I think, is that “company building skills” are starting to seperate again from the VC model. Over the last ten or so years it often appeared that the skills necessary to really help a start up came with a VC investment — but as the model of VC continues to mature into soemthing like fund management, models are developing to fill the void. Over time it seems to me that the distinction between Angel and VC is going to morph into “what can you do to help me win?” What I have learned through my own investment activity here in DC is that when you provide entrepreneurs with value and hard work, the early stage “funding void”, created by the VC industry’s march towards valuing funds under mangement more than company building, becomes less important. Entrepreneurs will find a way to start and grow great companies — that’s what they did before VC funding was determined in the late 90s to be a prerequisite for success and it’s what they will continue to do.

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:09:42 +0000

Stacey, very good post.