Conor O'Neill of startup LouderVoice posts what I can only describe as a damning indictment of Irish VCs -
"It turns out that not only do they not get involved in early-stage tech investment but they have made zero tech investments since the crash! Their clients “still have the scars from the last time”. It also turns out that “early stage” in their view was anything prior to exit/IPO."
My God, I'm still shaking my head. I had to look up the definition of 'venture' again just to make sure I wasn't living in a parallel universe but there it is, in black and white -
n. An undertaking that is dangerous, daring, or of uncertain outcome. v. To proceed despite possible danger or risk
What a misnomer then for these yellow-belly, lily liver Chicken Capitalists.
Are you surprised? An InvestNI type who shall remain nameless told me a few months ago that the majority of Irish VCs were "normal" people who just made a killing on the property market due to the current over-inflated prices of property in Northern Ireland and the Republic. So they may have a few hundred thousand to spare and were therefore exceedingly cautious because they were gambling with their "one in a million".
Posted by: MJ | December 05, 2006 at 03:17 PM
Just to be clear James, this was not a VC I was talking to, I suppose they could generically be called a financial services firm. They do invest in both companies and VC funds on behalf of their clients. I just found it shocking that their direct portfolio appears to unashamedly totally exclude tech.
Posted by: Conor O'Neill | December 05, 2006 at 03:27 PM
Conor's experience is nothing new.
Not only are Irish (and European) VC's generally not interested in the Tech sector, thye quite often lack the business savy & manner that comes natural to most VC's & financial firms at the other side of the Atlantic.
See this post: http://wimaxxed.blogspot.com/2006/10/vc-capital-eu0-us1.html
E.
Posted by: Evert | December 05, 2006 at 10:51 PM