"Many venture capitalists are up in the arms because their returns are down, their funds are drying up, and there appear to be a declining number of entrepreneurs pursuing big ideas."
It's easy to believe all of this except the last part:
"Many venture capitalists are up in the arms because there appear to be a declining number of entrepreneurs pursuing big ideas."
That part I don't believe.
Why don't I believe? My view of venture capitalists (VCs) is that they don't look at ideas, or big ideas, or the anything at all detailed about a proposal from an entrepreneur. So, if VCs don't bother even to look at ideas, then it's tough to believe that they are
"up in the arms"
about what they don't see!
Of course, the author gave no list of his "many" VCs! I, however, have a long list of VCs who, receiving a proposal for a "big idea", e.g., along the lines of a company worth $200 billion, just quit reading and, maybe, start laughing. My list is long enough that the author's "Many" becomes improbable!
Instead, I've long since concluded that VCs look at a few simple criteria and then, for their first serious effort, in one word, look at 'traction'. Given some significant traction, all the rest is nearly irrelevant.
In one step more detail, the VCs have no serious methodology for evaluating anything about a proposal except just traction. I gave a longer explanation in:
"Many venture capitalists are up in the arms because their returns are down, their funds are drying up, and there appear to be a declining number of entrepreneurs pursuing big ideas."
It's easy to believe all of this except the last part:
"Many venture capitalists are up in the arms because there appear to be a declining number of entrepreneurs pursuing big ideas."
That part I don't believe.
Why don't I believe? My view of venture capitalists (VCs) is that they don't look at ideas, or big ideas, or the anything at all detailed about a proposal from an entrepreneur. So, if VCs don't bother even to look at ideas, then it's tough to believe that they are
"up in the arms"
about what they don't see!
Of course, the author gave no list of his "many" VCs! I, however, have a long list of VCs who, receiving a proposal for a "big idea", e.g., along the lines of a company worth $200 billion, just quit reading and, maybe, start laughing. My list is long enough that the author's "Many" becomes improbable!
Instead, I've long since concluded that VCs look at a few simple criteria and then, for their first serious effort, in one word, look at 'traction'. Given some significant traction, all the rest is nearly irrelevant.
In one step more detail, the VCs have no serious methodology for evaluating anything about a proposal except just traction. I gave a longer explanation in:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4289566