Tag: Venture Capital Market

A Useful Funding Tool for Less Segregated and Diverse Communities

Communities with a mixed ethnic background and more diversity are likely to come up with new ideas. According to a study by the Yale School of Management, having people in a community with different backgrounds is beneficial for Venture Capital (VC) firms as it leads to economic development and innovation.

In various countries around the globe, communities, universities, and businesses are pursuing diversification. Apart from the immediate benefit of getting fairness, having multiple points of view and diversity of experience is very useful for the overall performance of these sectors.

 

Effect of VC on Integrated Communities

The study also revealed that VC investment is more beneficial for ethnically integrated communities as compared to segregated communities. The effect of VC on the integrated communities was 30 percent higher as compared to segregated ones, especially in terms of creating more wealth, jobs, entrepreneurship opportunities, and facilitating innovative activities. The startup businesses create more value and job opportunities that eventually lead to economic growth.

In a diverse community, you get to interact with people having diverse backgrounds, which leads to getting access to more resources and information as compared to segregated communities. In the past, studies have shown that economic vitality is enhanced as a result of social interaction within a community.

 

Implications of Social Interaction for Venture Capital

The purpose of the study in question was to identify whether a social structure is vital for economic development or not. The VC was the focus of this study, given the fact that it is a useful financial tool for high growth businesses.

It was revealed that such relationships have significant implications when it comes to VC investments. VC investors put their money in new businesses that are in the close vicinity. They tend to rely on professional relationships and friendships for leads and information that cannot be received via cold calls or internet search.

VC investments were compared to aggregate income, employment, new businesses, and a number of patents. It was found that VC performed much better in less segregated and diverse areas, resulting in more patents, more jobs, and created more value.

Social interaction has benefited various communities. One of the many factors that led to high level of innovation in the United States is the increasing number of immigrants that bring diverse culture. When they interact with one another, it creates room for transferring valuable information and ideas, which leads to better economic outcomes. Besides, when people from different ethnic backgrounds live close to one another, it brings about healthy relationships and effective interactions that is favorable for the wider economy.

 

Diversity Leads to Innovative Thinking

Diversity is also very useful to promote innovative thinking that leads to success in the venture capital market. Any sector that does not have diversity or mixed race is very limited in innovative mindset and thought process. This results in similar thinking with not many innovative ideas. In addition to that, there is gender bias in the VC sector that restricts the overall growth prospects. It is a widely known fact that female founders represent the rapidly growing entrepreneurial group in the United States and their firm’s experience growth 1.5 times faster than the average growth rate in the market.

 

Providing Solution to Promote Innovative Decision Making

Despite the lack of diversity, it is quite likely that change is taking place gradually. An increasing number of entrepreneurs with diverse background are entering into the market. They are focused on providing a solution to the problem and make a profit in the process.

It has become really important to promote diversity in the communities and in societies at large so as to promote economic development and prosperity. Not only will it be beneficial for the venture capital industry, but it is also going to help the masses in getting equal opportunities in every sector.

 

The venture capital market has also derived benefits from diverse communities in terms of innovative thinking and plethora of useful information. To continue moving in the right direction, countries around the globe should embrace diversity in order to have successful businesses and create more job opportunities that will eventually bring economic prosperity in the long run.

How Important is Experience in Venture Capital?

In the world of information and technology, innovation is a key factor that drives the economy. Media is filled with success stories of founders in the Silicon Valley. On the other side of it, however, stands the venture capitalists who help these entrepreneurs materialize their dreams into successful businesses.

The venture capital sector in the United States is considered one of the key sectors that contributed to its economic growth. With the passage of time, the industry has faced massive growth around the globe and there is an increasing competition among investors to make it big. Some of the famous venture capitalists of earlier times are Tom Perkins, Tommy Davis, and Arthur Rock. In addition to the capital, it was their investing knowledge and experience that contributed toward the expansion of a tech industry.

 

Do You Need Talent for Venture Investing?

The venture capital industry has continuously evolved during the past few decades, and with that, some contradictions are brewing in the market. For example, the investors who dominate the market claim that they know how to choose a winner who would experience the same success as Facebook or Twitter did, yet, they expand the horizon of their bets, hoping that at least one of these will make it big.

This gives rise to a question:

Do you need talent for venture investing?

If so, what would it be?

The answer to this is simple; no! You do not need any special talent. Accounting or financial modelling skills are useful for venture capitalists, but it is important to note that early stage companies are not the same as public markets. In fact, they are run by owners who are still paving their way to success. The only thing that counts is the experience and skill of people who have already worked with startups and are ready to do whatever the job demands. Moreover, there is a common perception in the market that venture capitalists with a huge network of proven founders are the right choice, yet, you cannot rule out the fact that proven founders tend to ask for big checks, which reduces the share of a limited partner. New venture capital firms, on the other hand, are hungry to win and have the drive to listen to what startups want.

 

No Transparency in the Venture Capital Market

The venture capital market is not transparent, which is good news for venture capitalists, but not for the general public. Venture capitalists usually put their cash in long term investments, due to which, their outcome is not immediately visible. Therefore, it is difficult to measure the success and failure of any investment in the short run. Only a few estimations are publicly made available to compare the relative performance of one venture capital firm against another.

 

European Investment Fund – Evaluating Venture Capitalists Performance

European Investment Fund (EIF) is one of the very few institutions that have great access to venture capitalist funds for many years. In a recent report by EIF, analysis was conducted on the activities performed by venture capital firms in Europe over the last 20 years. Between 1996 and 2015, there were more than a thousand startups that were fueled by 355 EIF backed funds. According to the report, venture capitalists who were investing for the first time performed equally well as venture capitalists (VCs) with broader knowledge and experience, especially when the economy is booming.

 

Experience and Skills Matter

However, the explanation given in the EIF report was quite ordinary as they claimed to have good skills when it comes to choosing venture capital funds. It was further stated in the report that even the new VCs that have their backing perform well. But it did not have the coherence with another conclusion they reached in the same report, i.e., venture capital firms that carry out investments for the first time give a worse performance when markets are not doing well and these are the times when experience plays a vital role in defining the outcome of any investment.

 

This gives rise to another aspect of VC investing that is opposite to the perception of the industry; selecting a winning startup during the times when markets are booming is something newbies do as good as the experienced ones do, yet, the real test lies in avoiding losers and this can only be achieved with experience and the right skills.