Over the past 30 years, venture capital has been a vital source of financing for high-growth start-ups. Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Gilead Sciences, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Whole Foods, and countless other innovative companies owe their early success in part to the capital and coaching provided by VCs. Venture capital has become an essential driver of economic value. Consider that in 2015 public companies that had received VC backing accounted for 20% of the market capitalization and 44% of the research and development spending of U.S. public companies.
Despite all that, little is known about what VCs actually do and how they create value. To be sure, most of us have the broad sense that they fill a crucial market need by connecting entrepreneurs who have good ideas but no money with investors who have money but no ideas. But while the companies that VCs fund may make headlines and transform entire industries, venture capitalists themselves often prefer to remain in the background, shrouded in mystery.
To pull back the curtain, we recently surveyed the vast majority of leading VC firms. Specifically, we asked about how they source deals, select and structure investments, manage portfolio companies post-investment, organize themselves, and manage their relationships with limited partners (who provide the capital VCs invest). We received responses from almost 900 venture capitalists and followed up with several dozen interviews—making our survey of VCs the most comprehensive to date.
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