Silver Lining in Subprime Meltdown?
Copyright Jack Mixner. 714 449 1040. www.mixnerstrategy.com
The company VMware went public on 14 Aug and has continued to rise (Richtel). VCs are using it as evidence that the meltdown market bodes well for them. They see their market as a sort of safe harbor from the turmoil in the market.
VCs haven't changed at all. They are still looking for good people with protected technologies in markets that have the ability to grow substantially enough to repay VC investments at ridiculously (seemingly) high rates of return.
Other data points: The Baltic Exchange Dry Index continues to rise "a good indicator that demand's not going away (Davis)".
What's it all mean? While we always run the weakness list first during strategy sessions (because it is so easy to complete), the opportunity list is where the money is to be made.
Looks to me like there are still opportunities for growth.
We'll see.
Reference
Richtel, Matt. V. C. Nation. Subprime Fallout Could Help Venture Capitalists. New York Times. 24 August 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/24/business/24venture.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin
Davis, Ann. Growth Gauge: Offbeat Indexes On Commodities. Wall Street Journal. 24 Aug 2007. C1.