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Lijit Search

Society is a 'field of action' but the source of all action is the individuals composing it.
Arnold J. Toynbee

Opportunities do not create wealth.  Only seizing them does.
Martin Wolf

Global changes are creating opportunities on the economic frontier.  But opportunity is not enough.  As Ed Morrison, author of the EDPro Weblog notes, the emergence of an effective entrepreneurial culture requires a shift in mindset.  Such shifts are often manifested in the success and visibility of one or two companies that serve to catalyze a reinforcing cycle of entrepreneurial success.  These pioneering entrepreneurs help demonstrate that entrepreneurship is not something that is always done by other people in other places.

Ed points to the case of Louisville, Kentucky, where Doug Cobb and the Cobb Group have played that catalyst role.  Not only was Cobb Group successful, it triggered a host of success and spin-off ventures and may have contributed to the launch of Louisville's first venture fund, Chrysalis Ventures.

Here in my corner of the frontier, Greg Gianforte, founder of RightNow Technologies, is a leading contender to the title of regional catalyst.  As notable as RNT's business success is the fact that Greg launched his company with the express purpose of demonstrating that a successful software business could be built and sustained in Bozeman.

11:31:35 AM  

Torsten Jacobi at TJ's Weblog posted the following about returns on venture capital investing over the last one, three, and five-year periods:

siliconvalley.com has interesting facts about VC return:

"For the first time since 2000, the one-year return on venture capital investments posted a double-digit annual gain as of March 31. The return on all venture funds was 15.7 percent. Funds investing in the riskiest early-stage start-ups still recorded a loss, but later-stage fundings gained more than a third. Only over a five-year horizon did venture investments outperform public stocks."

One-Year Returns

Early/seed fundings: -2.9%

Balanced fundings: 20.5%

Later-stage fundings: 38.0%

All venture funds: 15.7%

[TJ's Weblog]

Estimated returns on seed and early stage VC remain negative, which suggests that we might not expect a rush of new entrants into that sector.  Fortunately, serious VCs tend toward the long view, which helps to explain why the likes of Flywheel Ventures, Highway 12 Ventures, Garage Technology Ventures, Funk Ventures, and Publex Ventures are all staking claims to early stage turf.

9:13:47 AM