Question

One of ways an entrepreneur can finance his or her venture, is to use Venture Capital. Dana Mead, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, supports entrepreneurs and innovators who are seeking to make major impacts in our society through their ventures. In these discussion videos, Mr. Mead provides insights about California's Silicon Valley and his life as a venture capitalist.

consider the following questions to drive the discussion:

Would you consider using Venture Capital in a venture that you develop? Why or why not?

Are you surprised by the source of Venture Capital? Why or why not?

Answer 1

would like to be very honest in stating that I would not like to consider using Venture Capital in my venture. This does not mean that Venture Capital is useless and or not having any value.

Firstly, I would like to test my venture in terms of being commercially viable and would like to arrange finances either through my own sources or from banks and financial institutions.

Secondly, as per my understanding, Venture Capitalist invest in the big ideas and or for creating major transformations and both the terms are quite relative to my thinking and to the perceptions of the body/ organization dealing in venture capital.

Thirdly, I am not a person who subscribe to that History repeats itself and or that the good experiences of development of Silicon valley through venture capital participation always succeed and or is the only option worth considering.

Fourthly, there has been mushroom growth of venture capitalists with all shades of capitalists, may be more interested to grow with the innovations and great ideas of others.

With respect to the second part of the question, it may be worth mentioning that the world is full of surprises and so are the sources of venture capital. It is not difficult to find number of incidents when one venture capitalist is replaced by the other for the same idea or venture. The rapid pace at which technology advances or becomes obsolete or redundant, changes in environmental factors, changes in the priorities by the political bosses, changing structures and working of NGOs, diversity of social, economic, political, ethical values etc., are having surprising elements in the sources of venture capital.