Kritische vragen voor de VC
OPINIE VAN GEORGES VAN HOEGAERDEN
Even though Venture Capital has produced no more than 10 pct IRR for the last 10 years and has lost the confidence of the public markets (lack of IPOs) and public companies (lack of M&A, except for a few 'garage' sales), many entrepreneurs keep chasing the mighty dollar from VCs who will not let entrepreneurs challenge their merit, at all or ever.
Even the top VC brands appear not what they look like on the outside. What more evidence do entrepreneurs need that cash clearly is not king?
Entrepreneurs still dive head first into a thick, dark and in-transparent venture soup that predominantly relies on a strategy of hope (if you listen to the rhetoric of its lobbying organization, the NVCA). Hope for better external factors, improved financial markets and a hope that those markets will forget how they were fooled before. That many valuations had no value, and that many high-priced acquisitions did not work out nor pay off (Skype anyone?).
And even when financial markets forget, the fact remains that investor validation does not lead to customer validation. Instead, financial markets are derivatives of real marketplace constituents. dutyfully paying customers. And therefor entrepreneurs better make sure they have an investor who has proven to drive a successful transition from idea to innovation themselves. An investor who has already crossed the chasm and knows that the trajectory of an investment may be a variable (and has the patience to ride it out financially), while the outcome is not. That macro-economically the innovation has merit, and the investment is just-in-time: not too early and not too late.
Even the top VC brands appear not what they look like on the outside. What more evidence do entrepreneurs need that cash clearly is not king?
Entrepreneurs still dive head first into a thick, dark and in-transparent venture soup that predominantly relies on a strategy of hope (if you listen to the rhetoric of its lobbying organization, the NVCA
And even when financial markets forget, the fact remains that investor validation does not lead to customer validation. Instead, financial markets are derivatives of real marketplace constituents. dutyfully paying customers. And therefor entrepreneurs better make sure they have an investor who has proven to drive a successful transition from idea to innovation themselves. An investor who has already crossed the chasm and knows that the trajectory of an investment may be a variable (and has the patience to ride it out financially), while the outcome is not. That macro-economically the innovation has merit, and the investment is just-in-time: not too early and not too late.