Joanna Glasner

Venture capitalists are characteristically an upbeat bunch. It’s sort of a requirement for anyone who makes a living funneling millions of dollars to money-losing companies in the hopes of making enormous profits from the few that succeed. This year, however -- with the industry coming out of a multi-year period of sluggish fundraising and under-performing returns in the wake of the financial crisis -- optimism seems to be on overdrive. As I made the rounds at this year’s National Venture Capital Association Conference in Boston, virtually every venture industry I spoke with said he or she sees see current conditions as more favorable than a year ago. IPOs are back. M&A is picking up. And the closing of several outsized follow-on funds indicates that LPs are dipping their toes back in venture waters. Contrarians might take that as a risky sign. After all, there’s a lot more upside from the bottom of a cycle than near the top. But for now, judging by the vibe at the NVCA conference, VCs are feeling pretty good. Following are some snippets from the panels, events, conversations, and bathroom lines:

With gas prices at multi-year highs, long-distance travel is getting less affordable than it’s been for a while. But that apparently hasn’t lessened venture interest in startups in the space. There were two travel-related funding announcements so far this week. Oktogo.ru, an online hotel booking service for Russians traveling abroad, raised $5 million from Mangrove Capital Partners, ABRT and French fund Ventech VC. Meanwhile, London-based HouseTrip, which specializes in short-term apartment bookings for travelers, raised $2.7 million in a Series A funding round from Index Ventures. (See a list of half a dozen other recent fundings on the jump.) Those were smaller deals. But with vacation home rental site HomeAway in the pipeline for an IPO, it’s now possible to get a glimpse of larger numbers in a fast-growing space. (HomeAway, which is seeking to raise $230 million in its public offering, had revenue of $153 million and net income of $17 million last year.) Additionally, the recent viral growth of Airbnb, a site for arranging short-term stays in accommodations, ranging from living room futons

Hiring is stronger. Markets continue their ascent, virtually unfettered by political unrest and a natural disaster. And on the venture capital front, signs of improvement are also in the air. The first quarter marked the best annual start for venture-backed IPOs since 2007, according to a report released today by Thomson Reuters, the publisher of […]

For founder-CEOs in hot private companies, it may be tempting to sell shares for some quick liquidity. But if an IPO is still the long-term plan, it’s best to hang on to a sizable stake. That was the general finding from a peHUBsurvey on the question of what size ownership stake is optimal for a […]

A few months ago, I wrote a post about what seemed like a perplexing disconnect in valuations between VC-backed Facebook app developers and a publicly traded dating app company called SNAP Interactive. At the time, New York-based SNAP, best known for a Facebook matchmaking feature called Are You Interested?, had a market capitalization around $7 […]

It’s earnings season in venture and private equity land, when the dozen or so pension funds that disclose return data update their quarterly numbers. Last week, David Toll at our sister magazine Buyouts, dug through the latest report from the Washington State Investment Board, which has one of the oldest and largest private equity portfolios. This week, I thought I’d attempt a similar effort for venture capital. So, below follow some statistical highlights for the state’s buyout portfolio, as of September 30.

Calling people in the venture world generally involves dialing the same six area codes, most located within an hours’ drive of Palo Alto, Calif. Last week, however, I got a break from area code repetition, when for the first time I contacted a VC from his home base in the West Bank. Granted, Middle East […]

One can gauge the health of the startup economy by poring over venture funding stats. But a far more simplistic approach is to walk around the neighborhoods that startups favor, and see how much prime office space is still for rent. Based on a recent trip through San Francisco’s entrepreneur-heavy South of Market (SoMa) district, […]

There may or may not be a bubble in Internet start-up valuations. But one thing in which there is definitely a bubble is in talk by journalists, investors and anyone else looking to raise their online profile through constant punditry about bubbles. A recent Google News keyword search for instances of “Internet” and “Bubble” within […]

Mike Carusi is having a very good year. In the last three months, the Advanced Technology Ventures GP has sold two portfolio companies – cancer therapeutics maker Plexxikon and hypertension device developer Ardian – in deals collectively valued at upwards of $1.6 billion. Both exits were a long time in the making. ATV first invested […]