BusinessWeek points to some compelling research published by the National Venture Capital Association that highlights the true impacts that Venture-backed startups are having on the US economy. The overall findings support the growing importance of the entrepreneurial system, which is exciting news for the industry as a whole and shoul help to provide insights into future direction for the country as it looks to ensure long term growth and sustainability.
Here are a few telling statistics to come out of the report, which captures data beginning in 2006 through the end of 2008:
- Venture-backed companies now account for 12 million jobs and 21% of GDP
- 81% of the software industry’s 1 million jobs originate from venture-backed startups
- Over that time, venture-backed business showed 1.6% job growth in the private sector vs. 0.2% in the industry as a whole
The full details of the report can be found here. I highly suggest spending some time with this document as it does a nice job of framing not only the financial ramifications that VCs have on fledgling businesses, but the culture that they can help to create during early stage growth. This guidance and development of best practices won’t show up on any balance sheets, but can certainly make the difference between success and failure.
[image via Mark Coggins]