Venture Capital Myths: Why 77% of Funded Startups Get Written Off

Synopsis

Rand Fishkin (Moz, SparkToro) tests seven commonly-held beliefs about venture capital against public data: only 5% of VC funds return more than 3x, 77% of 1,120 venture-funded companies are written off as losses, and just 0.9% reach unicorn status. He documents SparkToro's $1.3M raise from his own network with ~26% investor ownership, no board seats, and capped founder salaries until investors were repaid, and argues the asset class is structurally misaligned with their stated purpose.