VC's do Make Mistakes

Many a times first time entrepreneurs and those startups in need o fund make VC's look like they are demi gods. There is lot of talk about what kind of companies VC's fund and how much money they make. Isn't it ridiculous? Can there be a clan of people who are infallible, can there me a clan of people who are so foresighted that they know the future? Think about it. VC's do make mistakes, and a that to a lot. It's a common knowledge that only one in ten startups survive. This is something we all know. How about those VC's who are well known and have squandered the opportunity to invest in those companies, which went on to make a splash. Not all VC's are brave enough to speak of there failures. However, we have one Bessemer Venture Partners who speak of those opportunities which presented themselves, but did not grab it. Their list includes the likes of Apple, Intel, Google, eBay (Wow, they really botched up!). The following are excerpts from the page which gives you more details. "Bessemer Venture Partners is perhaps the nation's oldest venture capital firm, carrying on an unbroken practice of venture capital investing that stretches back to 1911. This long and storied history has afforded our firm an unparalleled number of opportunities to completely screw up." .............. "Our reasons for passing on these investments varied. In some cases, we were making a conscious act of generosity to another, younger venture firm, down on their luck, whom we felt could really use a billion dollars in gains. In other cases,.........." Now comes the sexy part......

"Apple Computer BVP had the opportunity to invest in pre-IPO secondary stock in Apple at a $60M valuation. BVP's Neill Brownstein called it "outrageously expensive." Federal Express Incredibly, BVP passed on Federal Express seven times.

Google
Cowan’s college friend rented her garage to Sergey and Larry for their first year. In 1999 and 2000 she tried to introduce Cowan to “these two really smart Stanford students writing a search engine”. Students? A new search engine? In the most important moment ever for Bessemer’s anti-portfolio, Cowan asked her, “How can I get out of this house without going anywhere near your garage?” "

What do you say?