Venture capital valuations: “Mind-boggling” complexity

The number of public companies in the US has been steadily declining for years. There were 7,322 public companies in 1996; today there are 3,671. Although it is important not to confuse this with the shrinking of the stock market as the value of listed firms has risen from 105% of GDP in 1996 to 136% now. Still, even though the market has expanded in overall size, the shrinking number of firms shows a worrying trend. Private markets have become the entrepreneurs preferred capital raising avenue with the result being high venture capital valuations. Since the financial crisis, private markets have become highly efficient at getting capital to where it needs to be and its a win-win situation for both investors and...