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Nitasha Tiku

04/10/14 02:43PM

Filed to: Venture Capital

In the first quarter of 2014, venture capital funding for U.S. startups hit its highest mark since 2001. Remember 2001? Well, nobody else does. VCs invested $9.9 billion in 880 deals, valuing 11 companies at $1 billion or more. They'll let any good-for-nothing into The Unicorn Club these days.

bassguitarhero Nitasha Tiku 04/10/14 03:44PM

yY7Uti7.png Check out Marc Andreeeesen getting all butthurt over Fairfax Financial Holdings claiming the bubble is bursting. Fairfax owns a stack in Blackberry, true, but guess what?

"Often compared with Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA), Fairfax looks like the Berkshire of 25 years ago, when it focused on insurance and investments. Fairfax owns Odyssey Re, a reinsurer, and a group of other P&C insurers, including Crum & Forster and Zenith National. And over the long haul, it has delivered: Book value has grown at a 22.7% annual rate since 1985; the shares are up about 100-fold over that span."

Yup. 22.7% annual return rate since 1985, maybe they know what they're talking about.

Nitasha Tiku bassguitarhero 04/10/14 03:50PM

Ha, I only saw his tweet, didn't look into Fairfax. Andreessen has been particularly sensitive this week. I wish I'd seen this one sooner. Never seen a VC clutch his pearls.

bassguitarhero Nitasha Tiku 04/10/14 04:04PM

Most of the companies with those huge valuations have them *because* SV venture capitalists keep insisting they are worth what they say they are. Drinking the Koolaid and all that. I think we're at the stage of the bubble where that facade is starting to crack, but the bubble can only be maintained if everyone keeps insisting that everything is ok.

Of course that means that when the bubble *does* go, that those are the people most likely to get wiped out - unless, of course, they are quietly dumping their stocks and cashing out. In this case I think Marc is pretty intent on riding this out.

None of these investors want to be the one who says, "Yes these companies are worthless," because that will mean the end for sure.