風投如何成爲好資本 More than venture capital is needed for success

Venture capital is widely viewed as “good” capital: it takes risks, proMotes innovation, actively engages with company management and often invests for the long term.

風險投資被普遍視爲“好”資本：它承擔風險、推動創新、積極參與公司管理，而且在投資時往往着眼長期。

As the US National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) says in its 2016 yearbook: “Venture capital has enabled the United States to support its entrepreneurial talent and appetite by turning ideas and basic science into products and services that are the envy of the world.”

正如美國國家風投協會(US National Venture Capital Association)在其2016年年鑑中所言：“風險投資將創意和基礎科學轉化爲令全球豔羨的產品和服務，讓美國能夠支持它的創業人才和創業意願。”

Of the 1,339 US public companies founded since 1974, 42 per cent have been backed by venture capital. Those VC-funded companies now account for 63 per cent of market capitalisation and 85 per cent of research and development among that post-1974 cohort.

在自1974年以來創建的1339家美國上市公司中，42%曾得到風險投資的支持，這些公司如今佔到1339家公司總市值的63%，研發的85%。

Three of the country’s five biggest companies by market capitalisation today were funded by venture capital at an early stage: Apple, Google and Microsoft. The venture capital industry remains just as ambitious to fund a new generation of start-up tech companies.

在美國如今市值最高的5家公司中，有3家曾在創建初期獲得風投的融資：蘋果(Apple)、谷歌(Google)和微軟(Microsoft)。風投行業仍在雄心勃勃地爲新一代初創科技企業融資。

While established companies in public markets are returning money to shareholders on a massive scale, venture capitalists in private markets are still investing in the future. Publicly listed US companies bought back $568.9bn of shares over the past year. That compares with the $59.1bn that venture capital funds invested in 2015, the second highest level in history.

在老牌上市公司大規模向股東返還資本的同時，活躍於私募市場的風險投資人仍在爲未來投資。過去一年，美國上市公司回購了5689億美元的股票。與此相比，風投基金2015年的投資爲591億美元，爲歷史第二高。

“The public markets have never been shorter term. The time horizon for private markets has never been longer,” says one leading Silicon Valley venture capitalist.

一位硅谷領先風險投資人表示：“公開市場的投資期從來沒有更短過。私募市場的投資期也從未更長過。”

At first glance, it would seem that Europe could desperately do with more of that kind of patient, risk-taking capital to spur innovation. As a recent paper from the French prime minister’s office noted, France — and by extension Europe — needs more “yollies” (young leading innovators). Younger firms tend to have higher growth potential, create more jobs and raise productivity. They help renew a country’s economic fabric.

乍一看，歐洲似乎更加迫切需要那種耐心、承擔風險的資金來刺激創新。正如法國總理辦公室最近一份文件所指出的，法國（乃至整個歐洲）需要更多的“年輕領先創業者”。較年輕的公司往往具備更高的增長潛力、創造更多就業以及提高生產率。它們有助於更新一個國家的經濟結構。

There is certainly a striking contrast in the scale and speed of wealth generation between the US and France. At $1.55tn, the combined market capitalisation of Apple, Google (now Alphabet), and Microsoft is greater than that of the entire CAC 40, containing France’s most valuable public companies. Europe could surely benefit from more adventurous venture capital to help its yollies. But all is not quite so simple as it seems. For a start, Europe’s VC industry does not do a bad job, according to a paper by two academics from the London School of Economics, whose data set included 12,315 European and 23,483 US venture capital investments.

美國和法國在財富創造的規模和速度方面肯定存在顯著差異。蘋果、谷歌（如今名爲Alphabet）以及微軟的總市值爲1.55萬億美元，超過囊括法國市值最高的上市公司的CAC 40指數所有成分股的市值。歐洲肯定會受益於幫助年輕創業者的比較願意冒險的風投。但一切不像看上去那麼簡單。倫敦政治經濟學院(London School of Economics)兩名學者發表的一篇論文稱，首先，歐洲風投行業做得並不糟糕。該學院的數據包括1.2315萬項歐洲和2.3483萬項美國風投投資。

Contrary to perceived wisdom, the two researchers found there was no difference between the likelihood or profitability of initial public offerings between European and US deals from comparable years — even though US companies were prepared to pay more than European ones for trade sales.

與通常的看法相反，兩位研究員發現，可比年度的歐美風投投資在首次公開發行(IPO)的可能性以及盈利能力方面沒有任何差距，即便美國公司準備爲交易出售付出更高的價格。

The biggest determinant of success in both markets, though, was long-term expertise in the industry. Serial entrepreneurs and investors were more successful on both sides of the Atlantic. Overall, there remains a far greater wealth of experience in the US. But some successful European entrepreneurs-turned-investors, such as Niklas Zennstrom, co-founder of Skype, are helping to redress the balance.

然而，這兩個市場成功的最大決定因素是在該行業的長期運作訣竅。連續創業者和投資者在歐美都比較成功。總的來說，美國的經驗要豐富得多。但一些成功的由創業者變身投資者的歐洲人士（例如Skype聯合創始人尼古拉斯•佔斯特姆(Niklas Zennstrom)）正幫助糾正這種平衡。

Venture capital also has its drawbacks. Too much VC money has lately been invested in start-up companies with daft ideas, inflating some private market valuations beyond any meaningful measure and eroding margins for sounder businesses. As the cycle has turned down, some of the much-vaunted unicorns (private tech companies with valuations of $1bn or more) are turning into unicorpses.

風險投資也有其缺陷。近來有太多的風投資金投資於想法愚蠢的初創企業，這令私募市場的一些估值超過所有重要的衡量標準，並侵蝕了更穩健公司的利潤率。隨着週期轉爲下行，一些曾被大肆吹捧的獨角獸企業（估值達到10億美元以上的私有科技企業）將變成“獨角屍”。

Moreover, as the NVCA acknowledges, much of the success of US venture capital stems from external factors: access to good science from world-class universities, protection of intellectual property rights and a skilled workforce drawn from around the world.

另外，就像美國國家風投協會所承認的那樣，美國風投的成功在很大程度上來自於外部因素：獲得世界級大學的高質量科學知識、知識產權保護以及來自全球的高技能人才。

Professor Mariana Mazzucato, author of The Entrepreneurial State, has also highlighted the extraordinary role that the US government has played in fostering private sector growth. Public sector organisations such as Darpa, the defence industry body, and the National Institutes of Health have pumped billions into early stage research and proved to be remarkable engines of innovation.

《企業型政府》(The Entrepreneurial State)一書的作者瑪麗安娜•馬祖卡託(Mariana Mazzucato)教授也強調了美國政府在促進私募市場發展方面的不尋常作用。美國國防部高級研究計劃局(Darpa)以及美國國立衛生研究院(National Institutes of Health)等公共部門機構向初期階段的研究投入了鉅額資金，被證明是成效顯著的創新引擎。

Europe has a lot to do to emulate the success of the US in all these areas, not just in terms of VC funding. Capitalist success is about far more than the success of capital.

在仿效美國在所有這些方面的成功方面，歐洲還有很長的路要走，不僅僅是在風投資金方面。資本主義的成功遠遠不只是資本的成功。