ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 documents the findings of the interviews with VC firms and with the other stakeholders into the structural aspects of VC firms, namely the size, stage and sector focus of VC funds, the backgrounds of the investment partners, the responsibility of partners for deals and the use by VC firms of venture partners and advisory boards. US VC firms had proportionately more partners with operational and, to a lesser extent, entrepreneurial backgrounds. European VC firms had a greater proportion of partners with a financial, investment or consultancy background. Two partners working together on deals was more prevalent in US firms. There was evidence of US VCs clubbing together with relatively small investments in very early, seed stage investments in order to “test the water” and not to miss out on potential outlier investments. The specific sector focus exhibited by particularly the newer UK VCs is also noteworthy. There are no significant differences between European and US VC firms in the use of venture partners and advisory boards, although venture partners were more common in the US firms and their backgrounds and roles more diverse than in European firms.
