And, why the VC industry is partially to blame for lack of exits Back in 1999, I witnessed about 250 Internet companies go public. Thankfully, we’ll never see those halcyon days in the near future. But eight years later, we’re not seeing enough companies go public, according to Paul Denninger, Vice Chairman of Jefferies & Co, a boutique investment banking company.  This drought is taking away opportunities for investors, and creating an imbalance in the corporate ecosystem, he suggests."The problem is the number of public companies has shrunk every year for the last eight years,” said Paul, who sat down with me for a brief chat at the AlwaysOn Stanford Summit event recently. “That means fewer buyers every year… It puts more power in the hands of select buyers.” To this end, it's ... [ Read more ]