The VC Funding Party Is Over

"It might be the best time for any kind of business in any industry to raise money for all of history, like since the time of the ancient Egyptians," an excitable Stuart Butterfield, CEO of Slack, told Farhad Manjoo in The New York Times in 2015. While interest rates remained close to zero, venture capital funds raised more money than ever and exited their investments at some of the highest valuations ever witnessed. The glory days of VC are over, and if history is any guide, the tech bust should last through 2024 and beyond. In other words, the venture capital bust has only just started. Ultralow interest rates benefited venture capital in a number of ways.