the state of Venture Capitalism

Fuck I live on that street. Silicon Valley is a gaping shithole, a maw of fuck-douchery.

>>1171709
VC is not the right way to success. If you want to get into startups, get into the business of organizing autists at top schools.

Simply sittings on the sidelines and waiting for startup to approach you or looking for promising startups gives you no advantage.

>>1172125
Holy shit you actually live on that legendary street? This street kinda freaked me out when I was there, it just looks boring as fuck. Nobody walks, just office spaces, it's weird.

I didn't there were people living on Sand Hill who don't work in the startup ecosystem.
How do you like living next to billion dollar funds?

>>1172147
Not sure what your point is.

>>1172537
The guy saying he lives on Sand Hill Road is either very wealthy, living in a home owned by a very wealthy associate, or lying. Real estate prices in the Bay Area are unreal right now.

>>1171709

A lot of down rounds have occurred so capital is getting more difficult to raise. And, yes, it's a bubble thanks to the Federal Reserves intervention into the credit markets.

You can still get fund quite easily if you truly have a great idea and a great team. However, valuations of companies are down so for the same amount of money, you'll be giving up a larger percentage of your company.

Being a VC is alpha as far as making money without working too hard goes. It's West Coast Wall Street. However, the true alpha dogs are the founders of successful companies who manage to keep a large ownership stake in the company.

Almost no money-changer will ever make more money than the very successful entrepreneur.

>>1172542
Pleas help me understand:

A downround is when a company raises another round at a lower valuation than the previous one, right?
How does it affect valuations of other companies if a company like Zenefits had a downsize round? What the hell should I care about how Zenefits has negocitated his previous deal?
I don't quite get it. Is it mainly..psychological for the rest of the market?

Yeah at first I was really impressed by VCs, I thought they were geniuses. They I got to meet a lot of them... and let's just say my opinion changed. It also changed my views about harvard mbas: you can get one and still be a moron apparently.

I went to a VC event here in Austin Texas put on by Bank of America and Merrill Lynch. That little market dip we had in January had them all really nervous.

If we have any market correction its all going to be gone.

>>1172541

Or live in an apartment like most schlubs who want to be close to the hospital.

Most people in Palo Alto are not rich. They're middle America types that happened who buy their homes a long time ago.

>>1172537

It's a pretty boring place to live OP. Only here for work reasons (non tech non startup).

If you have to live in the Bay Area, it's pretty good compared to everything else. Not sure why people who live in San Jose or Redwood City (as examples) don't just mass-suicide.

>>1172667

>A downround is when a company raises another round at a lower valuation than the previous one, right?

Correct

>How does it affect valuations of other companies if a company like Zenefits had a downsize round? What the hell should I care about how Zenefits has negocitated his previous deal?

There are almost always down rounds in VC investing. They don't matter until a tipping point of down rounds is reached. Then the VCs wake up and suddenly become more prudent with the money they invest. The me-too type of companies are the ones that typically get massacred the hardest. Think all of the garbage Bitcoin companies, the financial transaction companies, and then the eyeballs companies that were funded only because the VCs didn't want to miss out on the next Snapchat, WhatsApps, or whatever.

>I don't quite get it. Is it mainly..psychological for the rest of the market?

Animal spirits were running wild about 1.5 years ago thanks to global easy-money policies. This shitshow at Square, Etsy, Theranos, etc. have shocked some of the investors into being more careful.

It animal spirits were really high because PE and mutual funds got involved this time, too, which was not the case in the run-up to the 2000 bust.

>>1173128

Yes, I was lazy when I used the term "associates." I meant friends, family, or some sort of special business relationship.

And Palo Alto wasn't too terribly expensive 20 years ago. It was frightfully expensive in the run-up to the housing bubble bust in 2008. It's difficult to believe but the prices now make 2007 look pretty cheap.

>>1173136
Yeah I've been to Palo Alto, Menlo park..and I just thought WTF it's boring as hell.
I'm still shocked to see how many startups have their address in palo alto...

>>1173222
Ok thanks for the answer.