Venture Capital to disappear

Filed in archive Venture Capital on May 18, 2005

While we accustomed to keep getting reports here about too much VC that do nicely reverse into not enough VC there is a new opinion on the block - there will be 50% less VCs soon. Sometimes the exaggeration of this industry is enormous especially in self marketing:

"Promod Haque,
a general partner at Norwest Venture Partners, had the most forceful
opinions. "Over the next five to ten years, I believe there are going
to be half as many Venture Capital Firms in this business, and there
are going to be half as many companies being created," he said.

Haque contends that there is a supply-demand imbalance between the
amount of money earmarked for funding startups and the appetite for
startups' products. There are simply too many companies created and not
enough paying customers, he says. This is not necessarily a new
position, but it's been a while since I've heard a VC state it with
such authority, especially since recent reports suggest the overhang of capital is shrinking."

My two cents - specialization will further evolve and with no major consolidation (although there are some benefits for getting bigger). But nice we talked about :)