Venture Capital and the Investor

Venture capital is a major source of financing for entrepreneurial businesses. Given the importance of venture capital financing to venture creation and regional economic development, it is not surprising that venture capital has emerged as a topic of interest to entrepreneurs and public policy makers, as well as a subject of some academic research. This research has mainly focused on the composition of venture capital fund portfolios, decision‐making criteria used by venture capitalists, and the post‐investment role of the venture capitalists. The role of the investor in the venture capital fund — the people whose money fuels the entire process — has been largely ignored (Fried & Hisrich, 1988).