Venture capital firms play a vital role in the economy. They back new businesses that create jobs and bolster broader economic growth. VCs typically invest in startups with high potential for growth and profitability. They offer financing to entrepreneurs in exchange for a share of the company’s equity.
VCs are taking a more active role
VCs have become more active in the management of their portfolio companies. This is mainly due to their schedules and financial incentives. The popular image of the sage VC as a mentor has been overtaken by the practical reality of limited time. Venture capitalists, for example, Brad Kern, invest in many industries. Their investments often have different legal terms, such as preferred equity ownership or liquidation preferences.
Moreover, VCs are increasingly focusing on socially responsible startups. These entrepreneurs aim to solve critical problems and enhance global competitiveness. These new entrepreneurs’ emergence drives interest in impact investing within the VC ecosystem. Startups backed by venture capital are more likely to explore uncharted territory and develop disruptive technologies that challenge the status quo. Consequently, they are more likely to create innovative products and services that generate economic growth. Similarly, investors in VC funds are more likely to take risks and explore riskier investments. This creates a feedback loop that stimulates startup growth.
VCs are investing more money
VCs invest in startups in exchange for equity, so their investments are not expected to be paid back on a schedule like a traditional loan. Instead, VCs hope that the startups they invest in will grow to the point where they can be sold for large sums or go public. This hope for significant returns drives VCs to seek startups that can increase. It also influences the types of startup industries VCs invest in, e.g., consumer-facing digital business models and those that address large winner-takes-all markets.
As a result, many of the same trends in startup growth are emerging across multiple industries. This is even though for every 20 venture capital investments, only one will likely be a big win. The other 19 are likely to fail or only generate a small return. To avoid losing their entire investment, VCs must put much time into the “winners” and spend little on the underperforming startups (often called numnuts). They achieve this by seeking control through different channels of direct influence that can be agreed upon in a Term Sheet (“TS”). These include preferential rights over payout (liquidation preferences), voting (blocking and disproportional voting rights), and vesting provisions for founders and employees.
VCs are investing in more companies
The venture capital model has become a critical part of the innovation economy. It provides entrepreneurs with the financial resources to commercialize technologies that would otherwise remain undeveloped within large companies or universities. VCs receive a share of the startup in exchange for their capital, usually preferred stock. This gives them a higher ownership stake than common equity, and when the startup fails, it enables VCs to recover their initial investment via liquidation preferences.
VCs aim to generate high returns, or rents, for their capital providers—often pension funds, private-equity investors, insurance companies, and funds-of-funds—by generating big wins. They do this by investing in startups with the potential to be worth billions within the timeframe of the venture capital fund. The legal terms of each deal are delineated in a term sheet and an investment agreement (IA) between the VC firm and its investee. These documents define various conditions, such as payout terms, board seats, and voting rights.
VCs are investing in more industries
Investing in more industries is an attempt to diversify portfolio risk and reduce the impact of losing bets. Sometimes, this involves taking a long-shot bet on an unproven technology such as genetic engineering. It can take years to advance these technologies to a point where they are ready for FDA approval and can be taken public or sold to a large corporation. Venture capital firms also focus on identifying entrepreneurs with the proper skill set to manage their startups and deliver high growth rates.
They also aim to identify companies with scalable business models that can benefit from network effects. Finally, VCs are also experimenting with new ways to make their investments profitable. This includes exploring investment opportunities in emerging markets. They also embrace impact-first investing, supporting companies prioritizing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals alongside profitability.
