Private Equity and Venture Capital: What's the Difference?

Abstract

On March 6, 2012, the University of Colorado Law School’s Silicon Flatirons Center convened an invitation-only private Roundtable discussion with nationally prominent venture capitalists, private equity managers, deal attorneys, investment advisors, and professors to discuss private equity and venture capital (the “Roundtable”). Moderated by Brad Bernthal, an Associate Professor at Colorado Law School, the Roundtable considered key questions about the differences and similarities between private equity and venture capital, including (a) how the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”), in particular section 203(l)-1, will impact private investment funds and capital deployment and to what extent it will constrain firms’ operational flexibility; (b) whether PE and VC are “as different as night and day” (culturally or otherwise) or if they exist on a spectrum; and (c) what is next in terms of regulatory treatment implicating definitional challenges surrounding PE and VC.