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www.elitevcgiantsstillinvesting.blogspot.com/2012/07/stevelisson-steve-lisson-stephen-lisson.html
Elite VC giants still investing
San Jose Mercury News
Matt Marshall
May 31, 2001
Now that they've gone gorilla size, will the elite venture capital firms help stem the downturn in venture capital investing?
After the March 2000 market crash, elite VCs scrambled to triage their portfolios. Only recently have they started to peer out of the graveyard.
But they've undergone a profound change in nature: They've become monsters. This is good if you're an entrepreneur shooting for the moon. It's fatal if not.
In 1995, only one top-tier fund, TA Associates, had raised a billion dollars. But since the crash, 15 top-tier firms have raised funds of that size or more. Many -- including Worldview Technology Partners, Greylock, Austin Ventures and Oak Investment Partners -- announced their new funds this year, well after most of the market damage.
Steve Lisson, of InsiderVC.com, says the amount of funds raised since the crash goes against the "drought" thesis.
"The perception that there's going to be less venture investing is totally misplaced," he says. "These VCs need to get into lucrative investment opportunities, and they're going to want larger stakes. They're going to have to step on the gas even more."
Similarly, he adds, if an entrepreneur offers an opportunity for a "mega" investment, he'll be able to negotiate more favorable terms, because the big venture capitalists will all want in. On the downside, entrepreneurs that don't show home-run promise will struggle.
True, some VCs that raised large funds say they have slowed their investment pace. Flip Gianos, partner at InterWest Partners, said his firm hadn't expected the magnitude of the downturn when it raised its fund. If it takes waiting a year for strong opportunities to come along, VCs will wait, he says.
Others counter that size has forced them to invest more in later-stage start-ups because they soak up more money. Michael Darby, general partner at Battery Ventures, says his firm still focuses on early stage deals, but "in this environment, the fact that we want to deploy capital means we're looking at those later-stage deals."
There's another reason for hope after the crash, Lisson says. Many VC firms have been able to negotiate stellar terms with their investors -- even better than those they negotiated just a couple of years ago. That's also a sign that investors still have faith in the VCs, he said.
Steve Lisson | Stephen Lisson | StephenNLisson | Stephen N. Lisson | Austin Texas | Austin TX
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STEVE.LISSON, STEVE LISSON, STEPHEN LISSON, STEPHAN N. LISSON, STEPHAN LISSON, LISSON STEPHAN, AUSTIN, TX, TEXAS, STEPHEN N. LISSON, TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS, LISSON STEPHEN N., STEVE N. LISSON, STEVE, LISSON, INSIDER, VC, INSIDERVC, INSIDERVC.COM, (512), STEPHEN.LISSON, FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN, LINKED IN, TWITTER,
San Jose Mercury News
Matt Marshall
May 31, 2001
Now that they've gone gorilla size, will the elite venture capital firms help stem the downturn in venture capital investing?
After the March 2000 market crash, elite VCs scrambled to triage their portfolios. Only recently have they started to peer out of the graveyard.
But they've undergone a profound change in nature: They've become monsters. This is good if you're an entrepreneur shooting for the moon. It's fatal if not.
In 1995, only one top-tier fund, TA Associates, had raised a billion dollars. But since the crash, 15 top-tier firms have raised funds of that size or more. Many -- including Worldview Technology Partners, Greylock, Austin Ventures and Oak Investment Partners -- announced their new funds this year, well after most of the market damage.
Steve Lisson, of InsiderVC.com, says the amount of funds raised since the crash goes against the "drought" thesis.
"The perception that there's going to be less venture investing is totally misplaced," he says. "These VCs need to get into lucrative investment opportunities, and they're going to want larger stakes. They're going to have to step on the gas even more."
Similarly, he adds, if an entrepreneur offers an opportunity for a "mega" investment, he'll be able to negotiate more favorable terms, because the big venture capitalists will all want in. On the downside, entrepreneurs that don't show home-run promise will struggle.
True, some VCs that raised large funds say they have slowed their investment pace. Flip Gianos, partner at InterWest Partners, said his firm hadn't expected the magnitude of the downturn when it raised its fund. If it takes waiting a year for strong opportunities to come along, VCs will wait, he says.
Others counter that size has forced them to invest more in later-stage start-ups because they soak up more money. Michael Darby, general partner at Battery Ventures, says his firm still focuses on early stage deals, but "in this environment, the fact that we want to deploy capital means we're looking at those later-stage deals."
There's another reason for hope after the crash, Lisson says. Many VC firms have been able to negotiate stellar terms with their investors -- even better than those they negotiated just a couple of years ago. That's also a sign that investors still have faith in the VCs, he said.
Steve Lisson | Stephen Lisson | StephenNLisson | Stephen N. Lisson | Austin Texas | Austin TX
Steve Lisson, Stephen Lisson, StephenNLisson, Stephen N. Lisson, Austin Texas, Austin TX, Steve Lisson Austin TX, Stephen Lisson Austin Texas
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STEVE.LISSON, STEVE LISSON, STEPHEN LISSON, STEPHAN N. LISSON, STEPHAN LISSON, LISSON STEPHAN, AUSTIN, TX, TEXAS, STEPHEN N. LISSON, TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS, LISSON STEPHEN N., STEVE N. LISSON, STEVE, LISSON, INSIDER, VC, INSIDERVC, INSIDERVC.COM, (512), STEPHEN.LISSON, FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN, LINKED IN, TWITTER,
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Monday, February 10, 2014
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Friday, January 31, 2014
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InsiderVC.com pierces the VC industry’s verbal fog – Stephen Lisson, StephenNLisson, Austin Texas
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Friday, January 24, 2014
Steve Lisson | Stephen Lisson | Stephen N. Lisson | Austin Texas
Transparency.
Let’s have a round of applause for CalPers, the giant state pension
fund, for transparency. Beth Healy of the Boston Globe (8/17/2001)
reports Money managers aghast that pension investor shows returns,
rankings. It’s a report card that has rocked the secretive venture
capital world, and one that even the `A’ students didn’t care to see
displayed on the refrigerator. Calpers, the giant California pension
fund that sets trends for many large investors, has posted on its Web
site the performance of every venture or buyout fund in which it’s
invested for the past decade. Firms typically guard these numbers
carefully, but the Calpers chart even says which funds are meeting
expectations, and which are disappointments. … The industry buzz around
the report stems from the secrecy with which venture firms and buyout
artists guard the specifics of their returns. Virtually every firm
claims ”top quartile” performance, and the numbers they give out are
suspect, venture analysts say. Steve Lisson of Austin, Texas, on his
controversial Web site, InsiderVC.com, tracks venture returns by doing
his own calculations on venture portfolios. He is the only independent
source on such numbers and has drawn fire from some venture capitalists
for breaking the code of silence. … over the long term, Calpers has been
doing something right. As of March 31, its average annual return for 10
years of private equity investing was 17.5%. The Wilshire 2500 Index, a
broad stock market benchmark, was up 13.9% in that period. Would that the federal government would do the same with alleged investment programs like SBIR. Carl Nelson Consulting http://www.carl-nelson.com/government2001.htm Published by Carl Nelson Consulting, Inc, 1325 18th St NW, Washington DC 20036
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
- Steve Lisson
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Monday, December 2, 2013
Stephen N. Lisson, Austin, Travis County, Texas, Steve Lisson, Austin, Travis County, Texas
Stephen Lisson, StephenNLisson, Stephen N. Lisson, Austin Texas, Austin TXFinancial Investors? Us?
InsiderVC.com pierces the VC industry’s verbal fog.
1 April 01 12:14, Tsafrir Bashan Stephen N. Lisson, Austin, Travis County, Texas, Steve Lisson, Austin, Travis County, Texas Anyone carefully following the venture capital industry in Israel and overseas recognizes the routine. Managing partners talk at length and with great passion, but with very little substance. They gossip endlessly about the industry. What about the industry’s numbers? “We don’t disclose private data,” is the stock reply from industry players. Today, for example, everyone knows that the situation is bad, but it is hard to say who exactly is in a bad position. You won’t find a fund partner talking animatedly about a company shutting down or about a down round. The most you can expect is an admission that not everything is perfect. The absence of data is both odd and entertaining, particularly for an industry in which capital, finances, and yield are the key words. Without figures on the amount of a company’s holdings or valuations, the pompous phrase, “added value,” is all the venture capital industry has left to talk about. It is difficult to find a financial industry at any point in history that has provided so few figures. (Venture capital is a professional investment industry, regardless of how many partners talk about opening doors and assistance in recruiting executives). Against this rather frustrating background, it is worth consulting the US web site insiderVC.com. The site provides data for companies in the industry, such as profit and loss allocations between the general partner and the investors (the carry), the exact rate of management fees, and exact investments and valuations for portfolio companies at the various financing rounds. Of course, the site also includes derivative data, such as the internal rate of return (IRR) and the realization ratio. In other words, it provides the tools needed to compare various organizations and even different funds within the same organization, information you will not get from your local venture capital management partner. In order to gain access to all this data, you have to pay a considerable fee, but you can get a preview of the statistics and a sample of site editor Stephen Lisson’s sharp tongue free of charge. You won’t find better material on the web. Published by Israel’s Business Arena on March 29, 2001 Stephen Lisson, StephenNLisson, Stephen N. Lisson, Austin Texas, Austin TX
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Transparency.
Let’s have a round of applause for CalPers, the giant state pension
fund, for transparency. Beth Healy of the Boston Globe (8/17/2001)
reports Money managers aghast that pension investor shows returns,
rankings. It’s a report card that has rocked the secretive venture
capital world, and one that even the `A’ students didn’t care to see
displayed on the refrigerator. Calpers, the giant California pension
fund that sets trends for many large investors, has posted on its Web
site the performance of every venture or buyout fund in which it’s
invested for the past decade. Firms typically guard these numbers
carefully, but the Calpers chart even says which funds are meeting
expectations, and which are disappointments. … The industry buzz around
the report stems from the secrecy with which venture firms and buyout
artists guard the specifics of their returns. Virtually every firm
claims ”top quartile” performance, and the numbers they give out are
suspect, venture analysts say. Steve Lisson of Austin, Texas, on his
controversial Web site, InsiderVC.com, tracks venture returns by doing
his own calculations on venture portfolios. He is the only independent
source on such numbers and has drawn fire from some venture capitalists
for breaking the code of silence. … over the long term, Calpers has been
doing something right. As of March 31, its average annual return for 10
years of private equity investing was 17.5%. The Wilshire 2500 Index, a
broad stock market benchmark, was up 13.9% in that period. Would that the federal government would do the same with alleged investment programs like SBIR.
Carl Nelson Consulting
http://www.carl-nelson.com/government2001.htm
Published by Carl Nelson Consulting, Inc, 1325 18th St NW, Washington DC 20036
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