PE Week

VCs Closed Their Checkbooks Last Month

Peter Kafka in Media on November 11, 2008 at 3:58 am PT

The myth of professional investors like venture capitalists is that they’re not like us: They’re smarter, they can see around corners, and they’re bold when we are quivering. Or maybe they’re just like us: When their 401ks gets crushed in a once-in-a-lifetime market rout, they think twice before writing another check. That appears to have happened in October, when VCs spent less money, on fewer companies, than they have in years.