Venture capital valuations: "Mind-boggling" complexity

The number of public companies in the US has been steadily declining for years. There were 7,322 public companies in 1996; today there are 3,671. Although it is important not to confuse this with the shrinking of the stock market as the value of listed firms has risen from 105% of GDP in 1996 to 136% now. Still, even though the market has expanded in overall size, the shrinking number of firms shows a worrying trend. Private markets have become the entrepreneurs preferred capital raising avenue with the result being high venture capital valuations. Since the financial crisis, private markets have become…