How old is venture capital? Probably as old as the first hunter/gatherer. Yet, until the mid-20th century, it was mostly practiced by wealthy individuals and families. Chris Columbus himself pitched various rulers for seven years until the Spanish monarchs eventually financed his first travel to “disrupt the spice trade.” Even the fee structure of “carried interest” — typically 20 percent of profits — is said to originate in the share that the captains of merchant ships would collect for goods carried during their perilous voyages to Asia and the Americas.
