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Insights and Opinions: In the Midst of the Nuclear Winter

For our Insights and Opinions section today, we have an article from Andy Wilson Managing Director and Founder of Momentum Venture Management (www.mvmpartners.com), a firm which helps early-stage companies achieve early business results in order to attract funding and create sustainable, successful businesses. He was also previously SVP of Global Product Management & General Manager of New Ventures at Overture Services before it was acquired by Yahoo! for $1.7 billion, and was President & COO of RiverOne. Andy responded to Wil Schroter's post from earlier this week about the ease of finding funding for startups.


After 20 years of building entrepreneurial ventures I have had no choice but to be a devout optimist. The challenges are overwhelming, the naysayers abound but we as entrepreneurs persist. Over this period I have personally been involved in over a dozen start-up ventures with 2/3rd of those under the umbrella of Momentum Venture Management (www.mvmpartners.com), the early stage venture fund/accelerator I started 6 years ago with Matt Ridenour.

However, we as entrepreneurs most acknowledge the nature of the challenges we face. Not so that we can become discouraged but so that we can be prepared and thoughtful about how to overcome them. I think right now it is undeniable that we are facing an extraordinary pull back across the venture spectrum. I strongly disagree with Wil Schroter's recent post that people are "eager to write checks." The rule today is that raising venture financing is extraordinarily difficult. (Continued...)


Read Andy's response to Wil's post, and why he thinks we're still in the midst of a nuclear winter -- and what to do about it.