VentureBeat - Latest Comments in Don’t stop believing: Venture performance didn’t dip that badly

Re: Don’t stop believing: Venture performance didn’t dip that badly

Anthony Ha — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:35:03 -0000

OK, it was a bit of a cheap shot, but you'll note that in both cases, the odds are pretty bad ...

Re: Don’t stop believing: Venture performance didn’t dip that badly

PeterA650 — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:33:26 -0000

Odds of winning the lottery: 1 in 18 million
Odds of building a successful VC backed company: 1 in 1000

Re: Don’t stop believing: Venture performance didn’t dip that badly

Anthony Ha — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:44:03 -0000

"Nothing has the potential for return that venture capital does."

I agree with your other points, Peter, but jeez, if we're just going to judge things based on "potential for return," what about the lottery?

Re: Don’t stop believing: Venture performance didn’t dip that badly

PeterA650 — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:49:39 -0000

In a highly volatile market and a global recession, nobody should be deriving any meaningful conclusions from 1-year data, whether it represents milk sales in Mozambique or steel output in Russia.

I think this should pretty much silence those who have proclaimed that "VC is dead". Nothing has the potential for return that venture capital does. Also, these numbers represent ROI in strict monetary terms. Let's not forget that this isn't money going towards meat and potatoes projects -- this is money that enables innovation. The fallout and the impact on the overall economy is far larger than this table reveals. It's also impossible to measure.