Ah, if only VCs were so intelligent and rational as depicted in your article, Esther. In my 30+ years of experience with the breed, today's VCs are largely comprised of boys & girls who came out of MBA school, became associates, and through the passage of time ultimately became partners. They've never run anything, started anything, or sold anything. And so the question "How do VCs make investment decisions?" is readily answered: by doing what they see other VCs doing. Everything else is merely post-hoc rationalization. Hence 9 out of 10 investments fail. But who cares when you can raise a huge fund and thus pay yourself an enormous salary, plus enjoy your piece of the 20% carry on anything that actually does one day get acquired or pushed out in an IPO?