VCs gotta go to work
Mon, 10/08/2007 - 19:52 — jpark (not verified)
MSNBC/BusinessWeek is saying that VCs are in for some troubling times ahead.
Fewer funds are out there,.
Higher valuations are greeting the investors.
No more quick hits from the late ‘90s.
Instead we are going to be seeing the boring stuff from here on out. At least until the next fad hits. Cleantech is not the next dot-com bubble. It takes more time to set up and execute a manufacturing plant, than it does to pound out code, and market your way to more customers.
This is the boring part of VC. The part where you spend cycle after sale cycle growing the business, making calls, improving the product, listening to customers, and all the ground pounding that makes for a real company. The returns on the quick hits have mostly expired, the returns on the slow growths will move away soon.
If there is going to be a new fad, a quick growth area, it's probably mobile based.
Odds are mobile information services that will augment/add to current communication pieces. New devices and fast adoption mean new opportunities. more than just voice communication between people. The cellphone will be most people's first/only computer. Services make more money than hardware, it is just finding the right services that people wish to consume that is the challenge. It will probably be quick/rapid usage, not drawn out interface like the internet/movie/tv. How will it work? I'm not sure yet. and probably won't recognize it until too late (like twitter).
Fewer funds are out there,.
Higher valuations are greeting the investors.
No more quick hits from the late ‘90s.
Instead we are going to be seeing the boring stuff from here on out. At least until the next fad hits. Cleantech is not the next dot-com bubble. It takes more time to set up and execute a manufacturing plant, than it does to pound out code, and market your way to more customers.
This is the boring part of VC. The part where you spend cycle after sale cycle growing the business, making calls, improving the product, listening to customers, and all the ground pounding that makes for a real company. The returns on the quick hits have mostly expired, the returns on the slow growths will move away soon.
If there is going to be a new fad, a quick growth area, it's probably mobile based.
Odds are mobile information services that will augment/add to current communication pieces. New devices and fast adoption mean new opportunities. more than just voice communication between people. The cellphone will be most people's first/only computer. Services make more money than hardware, it is just finding the right services that people wish to consume that is the challenge. It will probably be quick/rapid usage, not drawn out interface like the internet/movie/tv. How will it work? I'm not sure yet. and probably won't recognize it until too late (like twitter).
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