Episode 3 - Evaluating Venture Capital Performance
Janeway reviews the performance of Venture Capital firms and recent changes in the venture capital market. He starts by summarizing the stylized facts of venture capital returns (highly skewed, very persistent, and correlated with the stock market). VC capital increased rapidly in the late 1990s, peaking in 2000. VC returns have since settled down, with longer holdings and fewer IPOs. But with the climate of zero real interest rates since 2008, new unconventional investors (private equity, hedge funds, etc.) have waded into venture financing directly, hunting for the high returns of the next big tech giant. A "Unicorn Bubble" has developed as a result, where dubious firms have been financing their growth by selling illiquid securities at inflated prices to deep-pocketed investors with little expertise or control over the entrepreneur. This may have implications for the long-term link between venture financing and technological innovation.
