Welcome to the Wild West of Venture Capital

Inflated valuations typically signal that a particular investment segment is overheated. Deals in the digital and social media category, for instance, are becoming so expensive for venture investors that they may invoke an unsavory label–bubble.

But besides valuations, perhaps a more severe symptom of a brewing bubble is the recklessness by which venture capitalists are making their investment decisions.

Speaking Wednesday at the Digital Hollywood conference in New York, Venrock’s David Pakman tossed out an observation that makes the investment game sound like the Wild West.

“We are seeing what I would call bad behavior with investors looking at these hot spaces,” Pakman said, speaking specifically about ventures in social media and mobile. “Deals are getting done with little to no due diligence.”

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