11–20 of 28 posts
Can one start a tech company anymore without Venture Capital?
Some examples include Github, Imgur, Carbonmade, 37Signals, Braintree, DuckDuckGo, AppSumo, Atlassian, Envato, etc, etc...
There are also other sources of funding (ex: StartupChile), and that's not even counting angel investors.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I always return to this bet with John Kay: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=6BLqprHdwygC&lpg=PA15... returns for the most successful railroad companies were mere 5% - competition kept things down (although speculation in early years lead to phenomenal returns - if sold) However, a moderate VC return is 3fold over ten years - which is ~12.5% YoY (unless my maths is bad). But then that is 12.5% of millions and millio…
I struggle to understand your point - I'd love to here a bit more to understand it. The IRR numbers I mention refer to UFCF/equity, i.e. no exit (hence return) via company/asset sale.
Making 15-20% without an exit is a great deal - supporting I think your point.
Can one start a tech company anymore without Venture Capital?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I struggle to understand your point - I'd love to here a bit more to understand it. The IRR numbers I mention refer to UFCF/equity, i.e. no exit (hence return) via company/asset sale.
That the return (assuming no sale at top of a bubble) for the best companies in the biggest industry of 19C was only 5%-10%. (Based on equity, it seems Harford did not calculate dividend return which may make a difference) Making 15-20% without an exit is a great deal - supporting I think your point.
I'm curious why Fred Wilson would proclaim to the world that investing in his VC firm isn't going to give you the return that you're looking for these days. Is there a short term gain for him that I'm not seeing? Or is Wilson genuinely trying to change an industries path with a few words of wisdom? I'm not suggesting that his advice is bad. It seems to make sense to me.
Can one start a tech company anymore without Venture Capital?
VCs are not too big, they are (apparently) investing in the wrong companies. If humanity overall wins out, the next 20-30 years will see industries we can barely imagine grow to maturity. From electric driver-less cars, to new forms of power generation (even fusion), new building methods, new education, and vast mega-cities will spring out of nowhere. In the West, in the rest of the world, we will see vast demand for…
And not to be down on you, or the future in general. Maybe this is a side effect of growing not only when I did, but where, being in more rural Georgia. Or being "not an optimist".
That all aside, power storage really does seem key. Imagine if electric cars could be refueled by an easily accessible battery change out? And one imagines if everything is electric, then advances in any power generation tech transferable to electricity instantly gives advantage to everyone. Yeah, that future is a romantic one. But I just don't know.