It's never a dull week in venture capital. Things may be happening behind the scenes, but somehow it eventually comes out. We pick the best stories, blog posts and other intel inside the VC ecosystem here in the US and in happening places around the world. Onward dear reader…
IPO HACKATHON?
Media site IPO Renaissance has a short blog post and related 2-page report on why they think that the "parochial practices of the US IPO market" should be fixed.
IPO Renaissance: Modernize the IPO Ecosystem Now
While their suggestions are certainly self-serving because they seek to increase the information available to providers such as themselves, their points are food for thought.
VENTURE CAPITAL AS A CAREER
Longtime Internet VC Bijan Sabet has a good piece up about the variety of ways to get into the venture capital business.
Bijan Sabet: VC as a second career
Interestingly, he cites unspecified "data" that indicates that "there isn't much correlation on whether you need or don't need startup experience prior to mak[ing] the investment."
FIRING PEOPLE
Chris Dixon is a successful entrepreneur and early stage investor and has some good points to make about a difficult subject.
Chris Dixon: Firing People at a Startup
Among other things, he says that "founding a company as a brutal job".
EVALUATING STARTUP ACCELERATORS
The explosion of startup accelerators over the past few years has led some to question their value to startups.
ReadWriteWeb: A Better Way to Evaluate Startup Accelerators?
DreamIt Ventures venture partner Arie Abecassis has an interesting post that essentially asks the question of whether or not we should be looking at success metrics other than whether or not a startup gets acquired or goes IPO.
WHAT ENTREPRENEURS WANT
There are plenty of blog posts talking about what VCs want in entrepreneurs. But, this article reverses that:
Fred Destin: VC Qualities Entrepreneurs Look For
He sources data from a question he asked on Twitter: “what key qualities do entrepreneurs look for in a VC?” 22 different descriptions resulted.
LEARNING FROM NIGERIAN EMAIL SCAMMERS
We’ve all gotten those spammy emails from “Nigerian” scammers trying to get our bank account info.
VentureBeat: Nigerian Email Scam Concepts
The takeaway is that these kinds of scammers deliberately "dumb down" their pitch, so they don't waste time on knowledgeable scam targets.
THE SECRET OF VC SUCCESS
Francisco Dao has a thought-provoking piece up on venture capital and globalization trends.
Pando Daily: Immobile Capital
He thinks that the days of Silicon Valley’s preeminence in technology venture capital are numbered, “if the ROI on investing outside of the Valley starts looking more attractive”.
BREAKFAST WITH VENTURE CAPITAL
Think you can tell what a VC is like from the breakfast they order?
GenuineVC: What A VC Orders for Breakfast Says
It’s a tongue-in-cheek look at VC breakfast activity. I especially liked the "Just coffee - jittery VC who is on the fundraising trail struggling to close their next fund."
EXPONENTIAL TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE
VCs disagree over whether or not they are presiding over great technological changes, or decelerating change.
The Equity Kicker: Most Innovative Decade in History
Nic Brisbourne comes down squarely on the side that “the pace of technological change is increasing exponentially."
HEALTHCARE VC OPINION
Healthcare venture capitalist David Jones of Chrysalis Ventures has an opinion about the recent Supreme Court ruling on healthcare reform bill.
PE Hub Interview: Finality Is Good
Jones is pleased that the constitutionality of the law has been settled, if only to allow business to move forward.
EURO VC RETURNS STEADY
The European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association has published its 2011 Performance Report:
EVCA: 2011 Performance Report Press Release
The report states, among other things, that buyout and venture funds in the top quartile remained stable at a net pooled IRR of 22.54% in 2011, versus 22.81% in 2010.