Only half of Bubble-era companies out of business

bubble.jpgWhile people typically guess that 90 percent of dot-com companies failed, the reality is that a random sample of all dot-coms that received venture capital financing in 1999 showed that about half (48 percent) were still in business five years later, write Tim Laseter of the University of Virginia’s business school and David Kirsch and Brent Goldfarb of the University of Maryland. (Via New York Times)

Here’s their study. They conclude: More, smaller bets can make technology booms more productive and enduring. More, smaller bets should have been made during the boom, and the same should happen now.

All fine in theory. Practice is another matter.

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About the Author, Matt Marshall

Matt Marshall is editor and CEO of VentureBeat. Follow him on Twitter at @mmarshall, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

  • There are a lot of small bets happening these days particularly in Web 2.0 (alongside the Joost kind of large investments). This wasn't the case in the dotcomm days when most of the investments were pretty substantial. So maybe
    many are learning from the past, though in a small way! :-)

    Interesting study, nevertheless.
  • Elliott Dahan
    There must be a combination of a greater number of fundings on the Seed level and implementing a funding system with greater efficiency that either a Charles River "QuickStart", the Angel model, or just a small-sized fund which is still modeled on the VC system.

    There must also be a change in attitude among Funders - no longer will the pilgrimage to Sand Hill Road where Entrepreneurs genuflect and VCs pontificate work.

    There must be recognition and support for the infrastructure which already exists.
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