Brave New World

The 12^th Annual MIT VC Conference is fast approaching – only about one month left!  As a co-chair of this year’s conference, it’s an exciting and challenging time.   We’re working hard to make this a great event.

One of the first tasks as conference organizers was to select the conference theme.  That happened back in March 2009.  It’s hard to pick a theme almost 9 months before your event, but potential sponsors and speakers understandably want to know.

In thinking of a theme, we thought about where we left off at our last conference.  The last MIT VC Conference in December 2008 was against a backdrop of incredible uncertainty.  Would this be a full-blown depression?  What dramatic changes would we see from the newly elected administration?  Would VCs be able to raise funds…ever?  Would the venture capital industry shrink and by how much?

The topic we chose for this year, “Brave New World”, reflected our belief that we would know more about the VC and startup world in December 2009 than we did in December 2008.  With more than a year in this new, post financial crisis, economy and almost one year with new government leadership, the new world would be taking shape. 

Why the brave part? Well, we knew that if anyone was taking this new world head on it was the entrepreneurs and VCs.  How many times have you heard an entrepreneur or VC say that it’s the best time ever to start a company?  That’s why we chose the title “Brave New World”.

With only a month left until the conference, some of the questions from December 2008 have been answered, but we can see that there is still a lot to learn about this “Brave New World” in VC:

·        The 3^rd quarter was the worst for venture capital fundraising in real dollar terms since 1994, according to the National Venture Capital Association.  How long will it take and what needs to happen for the funding environment to improve? 

·        On the exit side, the IPO market has shown some signs of life in 2Q and 3Q, but it is still way down from 2007 levels.  When can we expect IPOs to become a realistic option for VC-backed companies?  What are the implications if the IPO market does not come back?

·        Post financial crisis, there have been calls to regulate most investment firms, including venture capital.  VCs have tried to distance themselves from the leverage loving buyout and hedge fund shops.  Congress seems to be listening, but the jury is still out. Will VC be regulated? 

·        Capital efficiency has become even more of a focus for VC-backed companies.  But, in what ways specifically are the favorite industries of VC reacting to this new world?  How are investment and company building strategies changing for healthcare/bio, energy, mobile, etc.?

We hope you can join us on December 4, 2009 as we try to make sense of this “Brave New World.”  We are working hard to set the scene for these important discussions.  Check back as we release the participants and specific topics for our panel sessions in the near future.

Dave Nelson

2009 MIT VC Conference Co-Chair