On the wings of LinkedIn’s IPO, a panel of three top venture capitalists discussed the fast-improving IPO environment, grooming top tech entrepreneurs, and finding companies that could be the next Google.
After a long dry spell, IPOs are recovering along with an improving economy, according to Saad Khan of CMEA Capital, Axel Bichara of Atlas Venture, and Bill Maris of Google Ventures, all of whom tell Jen Rogers of Reuters Insider that now is a good time to be a venture capitalist.
Still, the quest for top talent is extremely competitive, with the best entrepreneurs having multiple options. The panelists say finding the great founders of companies is what makes venture capital a difficult business.
Finally, the panelists predicted that Groupon, Facebook and others will have strong public launches and be successful as public companies.