Scott Kupor is currently a Managing Partner Andreessen Horowitz, one of the premier VC firms that got its start in 

Senior Vice President, Global Field Operations Opsware Inc. and in this capacity spent time in the Raleigh/Durham area.  “I have a soft spot for RTP”, he shared.  And all smiled.

Scott shared his views on what is happening in the Venture Capital world.
  • There were 472 seed fundings (<$1M) in 2009
  • There were over 1,700 in 2012
  • This has led to the noted “Series A Crunch”
  • Lower costs create opportunities for big companies unlike 2000 where startup costs were so high

One of the most interesting comments about today’s startup environment is the ability and preference for “Experimentation at seed”.  This is at the core of how we think at TSF and my interpretation of his thoughts align around the balance of risk changes from 10-15 years ago.  Today, startups can generate lots of data to support their vision and basically de-risk seed investing to some level.

The last compelling point was their thought that Android is outselling IOS 5-1 and could go to 10-1 as a mobile platform.  Who wins and loses in this scenario?  Share some comments and opinions!!