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The coronavirus situation has certainly altered capital markets but outside of that your comment doesn't conform to the data. There was more capital deployed in

by harryh 7y ago

The coronavirus situation has certainly altered capital markets but outside of that your comment doesn't conform to the data. There was more capital deployed in the last several years, at all levels, then we've ever seen.

brenden2 7y ago
I wish I could say that was my experience.
- harryh 7y ago
  Making generalizations about the world at large based on your personal experience is a mistake. Look at the data.
  - brenden2 7y ago
    Thanks!
  - bsder 7y ago
    "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." Generalizations based upon experience are perfectly valid when the market is not flat. I suspect that there is lots of capital washing between insiders and very little outside the bubble.
    - bryanrasmussen 7y ago
      there's also opinion, expert opinion, and statistics. the problem with statistics is you have to look how it's being used to figure out if you've got something lower than a damned lie or higher than an expert opinion. Which requires work and expertise of its own.
  - dvt 7y ago
    I mean, yeah, look at the data: https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/21-charts-showing-current-trends-in-us-venture-capital https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/21-charts-showing-curren... It's not really a secret that angel and seed funding has been steadily dropping since the mid-2010s. With that said, I think that @brenden2 is overvaluing funding. Most people around here build software -- which can be easily bootstrapped. For those in hardware/biotech/energy/etc. it's much harder to get out an MVP without funding.
    - bbrree66 7y ago
      Dang now Harry dun looks like a straight up goooooof. Should have checked the data.
    - asah 7y ago
      Do startups need as much capital early on?
    - harryh 7y ago
      Ya, I believe 2014 was the peak when it comes to seed deals per year so fair, we are below peak. But there was a TREMENDOUS rise starting in about 2005 or so (a combination of coming out of the dotcom bust then the rise of mobile with iOS/Android). Overall I see the availability of seed funding as still quite high. Very much agree with your last point about overvaluing funding. It's never been easier to bootstrap something for a year or two. Get an actual product working, maybe have a few users, and then go for funding to scale up. We see this in the data too with median company ages at the time of seed funding rising.
  - wesammikhail 7y ago
    What cherry picked data are you looking at? Just because TOTAL investment amount is rising doesnt mean that it is lifting all boats. Pareto distribution 101.
bsder 7y ago
> There was more capital deployed in the last several years, at all levels, then we've ever seen. If you consider all the money thrown at unicorns ... maybe. The $15-70 million range has been a desert for the past 4 years. Everybody wants the unicorn or the $1 million 100x exit.
- harryh 7y ago
  Ya, the so called Series A Gap is real. OP seemed to be talking about seed funding though which is plentiful.

by harryh 7y ago

brenden2 7y ago

I wish I could say that was my experience.

harryh 7y ago
Making generalizations about the world at large based on your personal experience is a mistake. Look at the data.
- brenden2 7y ago
  Thanks!
- bsder 7y ago
  "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." Generalizations based upon experience are perfectly valid when the market is not flat. I suspect that there is lots of capital washing between insiders and very little outside the bubble.
  - bryanrasmussen 7y ago
    there's also opinion, expert opinion, and statistics. the problem with statistics is you have to look how it's being used to figure out if you've got something lower than a damned lie or higher than an expert opinion. Which requires work and expertise of its own.
- dvt 7y ago
  I mean, yeah, look at the data: https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/21-charts-showing-current-trends-in-us-venture-capital https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/21-charts-showing-curren... It's not really a secret that angel and seed funding has been steadily dropping since the mid-2010s. With that said, I think that @brenden2 is overvaluing funding. Most people around here build software -- which can be easily bootstrapped. For those in hardware/biotech/energy/etc. it's much harder to get out an MVP without funding.
  - bbrree66 7y ago
    Dang now Harry dun looks like a straight up goooooof. Should have checked the data.
  - asah 7y ago
    Do startups need as much capital early on?
  - harryh 7y ago
    Ya, I believe 2014 was the peak when it comes to seed deals per year so fair, we are below peak. But there was a TREMENDOUS rise starting in about 2005 or so (a combination of coming out of the dotcom bust then the rise of mobile with iOS/Android). Overall I see the availability of seed funding as still quite high. Very much agree with your last point about overvaluing funding. It's never been easier to bootstrap something for a year or two. Get an actual product working, maybe have a few users, and then go for funding to scale up. We see this in the data too with median company ages at the time of seed funding rising.
- wesammikhail 7y ago
  What cherry picked data are you looking at? Just because TOTAL investment amount is rising doesnt mean that it is lifting all boats. Pareto distribution 101.

bsder 7y ago

> There was more capital deployed in the last several years, at all levels, then we've ever seen. If you consider all the money thrown at unicorns ... maybe. The $15-70 million range has been a desert for the past 4 years. Everybody wants the unicorn or the $1 million 100x exit.

harryh 7y ago
Ya, the so called Series A Gap is real. OP seemed to be talking about seed funding though which is plentiful.