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THE HUMAN CAPITAL REPORT · VOLUME II

The Art of the Excuse

Venture capital says it is an art. The industry's own numbers tell a narrower story, and the founders left outside are less unlucky than unmodelled. The evidence runs from the fund math to the gateways that decide who is seen to the returns left behind. It ends on one question the business rarely answers: how would you know if you were good?

40%

of all venture capital went to just 10 companies

Source: BetaKit

6%

of venture deals generate 60% of all returns

Source: Horsley Bridge

65%

of financings fail to return 1x capital

Source: Seth Levine

What's inside

  • The excuse

  • The math that forces a pick

  • Who the artists are

  • The gateways

  • The returns left behind

  • The counter-evidence

  • What real underwriting reveals

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