The state of venture capital (with Peter Walker)
Will funding pick up in 2025? What will the US election mean? This and more get answered.
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Say hi to Peter Walker: He’s head of insights at Carta, and host of The Data Minute.
Every week (or more?) he shares data-backed research and findings about the VC market, compensation and more. That’s why we invited him to share the state of the VC market — and discuss why it matters even though you aren’t the co-founder or VC.
Here’s some of the takeaways
The reason the funding market matters is that it fuels growth. If we don’t see IPOs and M&A, investors don’t return cash to their funds and less funding will take place.
In 2021, 45,000 startups raised something like $200 billion. In 2023, they raised $70B, and in 2024, they're going to end up raising $85-90b. So we’re not back at the peak — but things are improving a bit.
We’re minting more unicorns in 2024, and it’s increasing every single month.
The median time between funding rounds has extended. This matters a great deal, because if founders & management misjudge the timing, they’ll need to adjust operations (meaning cut costs).
Jump ahead
00:00 Introduction
03:04 What commercial teams need to know
05:44 What does the market look like right now
07:19 Are IPOs still backed up?
09:24 Political landscape
12:29 Two paths during a downturn
17:17 Time Between Funding Rounds
20:28 The AI Hype Cycle
27:31 Startup Shutdowns
30:54 Down Rounds and Their Impact
33:14 Predictions for 2025