"When it comes to actually trying to cash in these chips through initial public offerings or the M&A market, the returns are likely to be a lot less. How much

"When it comes to actually trying to cash in these chips through initial public offerings or the M&A market, the returns are likely to be a lot less. How much of the venture business will be left standing after the eventual reckoning is hard to tell. Fewer, bigger funds pumping ever-larger amounts into an increasingly narrow range of companies, almost all of them in AI: it's a long way from the model on which venture was founded, of spreading small amounts of investment seed corn widely in the hopes that the occasional big hit would make up for many misses. After a brief boom in 2021, IPOs and sales to strategic buyers have fallen off a cliff. With less cash being returned, many of the investors which back VC funds are unwilling to put up more. Many start-ups that achieved unicorn status during the boom would rather cut costs and conserve cash than return to raise more money at a lower valuation. It will take time for this to work through the system, but the reality - that many Zirp valuations are no longer supportable - will be unavoidable."