In late 1999, the online consumer fashion website Boo.com launched on the world wide web. Hampered by problems such as a bandwidth-heavy site trying to strike it big when internet-users had dial-up modems, exclusion of Mac users in general, and poor customer service, the website was liquidated by May 2000. So how much venture capital did the company blow through in that 6 month period?
$188 million.
Splurging on this level was achieved as the owners of Boo.com traveled by Concorde, indulged in expensive London offices, and employed over 300 staffers. Add the shortcomings of the website, and I could argue that backing from venture capitalists won’t always lead to success.
In an article published this week for MarketWatch, Saumya Vaishampayan rounded up figures of investments in Bitcoin by venture capitalists in 2013. Venture capitalists donated over $74.1 million across 39 deals in 2013. Already in the first quarter of 2014, Bitcoin investments are over $64 million, on track for a $200 million year.