Venture capitalists buy minority positions in young companies they think will grow quickly; buy-out investors buy most or all of companies they think can be turned around by fixing a few basic things.

I think what you're going to see going forward is that public investors and also venture capitalists and the whole chain of investors are going to be much more discriminating in their investments,

Many venture capitalists say they're looking for the next big idea. But they aren't, really; they're looking for something derivative, because derivative is safe.

If your business had no risk, you could go get a bank loan and call it a day. VCs like risks - without them, venture capital wouldn't exist. But they need to be risks that VCs are good at assessing and managing.

I think investors are looking to buy stable companies ... companies that have consistent, reliable earnings.

Novice investors think they need to buy before that date. You should always buy after the date.