Recently there has been a lot of discussion of what the recession has done to venture capitalists’ efforts to exit their investments. Clearly, the bad economic situation has made cashing out more difficult, but viewing the data over time suggests that the economic downturn may have only exacerbated longer term trends.
Looking at the numbers back to 1992, I see three strong patterns:
• A shift to mergers and acquisitions as the primary exit mode that began in the late 1990s.
• A decreasing share of VC-backed investments resulting in exits that began around the same time.
• A decline in the real dollar value of exits through IPO in the aftermath of the Internet bubble.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Trends in Exits from VC-Backed Investments | Small Business Trends
Author: Scott Shane
