via Is Boston Still a Venture Capital Hotbed? – Bits Blog – NYTimes.com.
Boston feels pretty dead in terms of tech innovation. Aside from a few exceptions during the dot.bomb days (CMGI, Lycos) and some old glories and hardcore wire-head firms, the VC community feels deader than disco in The Hub.
“Boston’s venture capital and start-up industries, once fueled by the minicomputer boom, have been shrinking in recent years. The amount of venture capital invested in Boston companies fell from $3.9 billion in 2007 to $3.3 billion in 2008, while investment in Silicon Valley start-ups stayed steady at $11 billion, according to the National Venture Capital Association.”
Amazing boom and bust that took three decades. 60s saw a big DARPA fueled engine around MIT, Mitre, Lincoln Labs ….70s saw the minicomputer take off …. 80s were the Lotus decade …. but by the 90s the writing was on the wall. The innovation table tilted to the Valley where the PC revolution went beserk in the 70s.
Sad.
Last year I attended a VC breakfast hosted by AlwaysOn – I believe it was an investment banker (who did work for both coasts) who noted that the NE guys made conservative plays and the Cali guys were the ones who swung for the fences. So they’d lose their money on 20 investments but the 21st would be a Google.