Venture Capital? We Don't Need No Venture Capital !
Dobbs: "If you're the police, where are your badges?"
Gold Hat: "Badges!? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinking badges!!"--Alfonso Bedoya in Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
The ardor continues for the idea that newfangled Web 2.0 startups don’t need venture capital, with a piece implying as much appearing in today’s WSJ. While some of this is just wishful “God is dead” thinking on the part of some VC-loathing enrepreneurs, there is an element of truth to the idea, as I outlined in my VEF presentation slides.
But that said, it’s worth pointing out that most of the companies mentioned in the WSJ piece today obtained professional capital, albeit angel money, not traditional venture dollars. That was true for Flickr, JotSpot, Weblogs, et al., which all received money from profilic investors. While those folks may not have been managing Yale’s or CalPERS’ money, that doesn’t mean they are unprofessional investors either.
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