3 ms·
If you read this before the article it may help: I always thought that VC meant "Venture Capitalist" or referred to the capital the investor invested (Venture C
by davidmurdoch 10y ago
If you read this before the article it may help: I always thought that VC meant "Venture Capitalist" or referred to the capital the investor invested (Venture Capital), this article doesn't mean either of those things, rather, it means the company that has accepted this money.
- phamilton 10y agoA Venture Capital firm, or VC firm, is the company which manages Venture Capital. That's the colloquial meaning of VC and amusingly leads to phrases like VC money.
- JumpCrisscross 10y ago"VC money" is more specific than "venture capital". Venture capital refers to any capital provided to a venture. Some of this may come from a venture capital firm. That would be VC money. Some may come from friends and family, lenders and strategic investors. The latter are providing venture capital, but are not commonly referred to as venture capitalists. This distinction is useful because VC firms structure their investments in ways that are better suited for some companies over others.
- phamilton 10y agoYes. My point is in agreement with yours. VC money isn't a redundant phrase, though taken literally it would seem so. (Venture Capital Capital essentially...). The implicit "firm" is very important. VC money is money from a Venture Capital Firm, not just any venture capital.
- throwaway_exer 10y agoHuh? VC does mean "Venture Capitalist", and they are the company that invests on behalf of LPs (financial institutions) who give the VCs money as a "fund."
- btown 10y agoYou may be doubly confused. VC here does refer to venture capital firms - sometimes they're no more than a few people running the firm, in which case you could refer to the individuals as venture capitalists. These firms invest in startups, businesses which create a product. Their job is to "choose winners." But where do the individuals making up a VC firm get that money to invest? It's very rarely their own wealth. Instead, they get it from LPs - endowments, pension funds, big banks, family offices (which manage multi-millionaires' money), all of whom want to get on the Silicon Valley wave. And those LPs certainly expect to get better returns than if they just put it in the bank, or into the stock market. So there are two levels at which a "company" must "raise" money - the startup from the VCs, and the VC from the LPs.
- davidmurdoch 10y agoAh. Thanks for the clarification here.