Software has long been the lifeblood of the Valley. So why are VCs just now remembering this?

In the 1990s, there were 248 software IPOs and 196 Internet IPOs. Sure, that includes some years before the Internet was commercial or widespread, but it also includes 1999 when 134 Internet companies went public.

Overall from1990 until today, venture capitalists have taken 367 software companies public versus 338 Internet companies. But take out 1999 and 2000 and the gap is far bigger: 367 software IPOs to just 156 Internet IPOs. And that includes a comparative fall off in software IPOs in the past ten years.

Internet IPOs are far more binary than software IPOs. The Internet gives us huge hits like Google and Facebook. But it tends to be a winner-take-all game. If you look at the sum of post-offer valuations for Internet IPOs, the NVCA shows some $309 billion. But the IPOs of 1999, 2011, and 2012 alone make up some $188 billion of that number. Those three years are skewed by the bubble in the case of 1999 ,and in 2011 and 2012, they are skewed by several very large exits in Facebook, Groupon, Yandex, and Renren. These four were massive issues, compared to the market as a whole, making up almost two-thirds of all shares sold in Internet stocks from 2011 to 2012.

#tech #startups #economy #silicon valley

7 months ago

Software has long been the lifeblood of the Valley. So why are VCs just now remembering this?

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