Published: 7/28/2009 10:36:12 AM, comments: 0
Here is an interesting and thought-provoking post by a prominent venture capital firm partner - he argues that the current difficult financing environment is actually a good thing... for entrepreneurs and investors.
Click here to view article
Cheers,
Don Jones
VentureDealPublished: 7/23/2009 9:35:28 AM, comments: 0
According to a recent report by Dow Jones VentureSource, the US venture capital industry showed signs of recovery in the second quarter as venture capital firms invested $5.27 billion in 595 transactions.
While it was better than Q1, the funding levels are still 51% below the same quarter in the previous year and still at roughly 1994 levels.
My best guess is that funding levels will stay depressed for some period of time until the exit environment - either M&A or IPO - improves. That will probably not begin to happen until 2010. So we have more of a wait before the industry begins to heal itself.
Don Jones
VentureDealPublished: 7/16/2009 4:15:01 PM, comments: 0
After a 6-8 months of plummeting economic data, it appears that the most severe recession since the Great Depression is now stabilizing.
While this is good news, we are still a long way from robust economic growth. The venture capital industry continues to fund compelling companies and technologies, even though it is hampered by a difficult exit environment.
There are signs of hope, with established technology companies recently going public. Also, in the next 12 to 18 months, those companies that have cut costs to the bone will only be able to look to growth to remain competitive and increase shareholder value.
Cheers,
Don Jones
VentureDealPublished: 7/10/2009 9:50:15 AM, comments: 0
Being in the data business, we VentureDeal follow closely the continued activity in the semantic web space. Below is a lengthy but fascinating keynote speech by Tom Tague of Thomson Reuters:
Click here for video
Cheers,
Don Jones
VentureDealPublished: 7/2/2009 10:29:09 AM, comments: 0
A recent survey of venture capitalists by Polachi indicates that VCs are most worried about the exit environment. This is certainly in line with what I'm hearing and reading across the web.
M&A exits are down significantly and although the IPO market is starting to come back very slightly, it is mainly for those technology companies that have been around for many years and have significant revenue streams already - $50 million $200 million annual revenue.
Deal flow continues to be good and management team quality tends to be even better during difficult economic times like these. Here is the survey:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/16919534/PolachiVCSurveyCheers,
Don Jones
VentureDeal