Times are not good for the venture capital industry. A recent press release ^[1] from the National Venture Capital Association and Cambridge Associates explained that ten year returns for investments in venture capital funds were now negative.

While the decade-long trend of poor financial returns to limited partners is the headline grabber, the venture capital industry has witnessed a number of other changes over the last decade.

At a May 2010 workshop on venture capital at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, I made a presentation outlining some of the industry trends. Rather than write about what the presentation said, I’m posting it here.

Venture capital trends presentation (PDF) ^[2]

^[2]Hopefully some of you will read it and comment. I’m interested to hear what others have to say about the trends.