提高制度化程度

20世纪50年代末到70年代，美国风投行业的发展涉及3个相互关联的变化。首先，有限合伙制组织形式得到采用。虽然这个结构没有什么特别新颖或新奇的地方，但在随后的几十年中它将无处不在，代表了与ARD选择的封闭式结构的重大背离。重要的是，有限合伙企业能提供税收优惠，而且受监管审查的程度要低得多。这些因素似乎是选择组织形式时的重要驱动因素。

其次，长尾投资的收益变得不像早期ARD首次证明这一概念时那样难以捉摸。数字设备公司的回报不算丰厚，但格雷洛克和文洛克创投都获得了优异的回报。尽管重大的技术变革，例如文洛克创投对苹果的投资，为超额回报创造了机会，但格雷洛克和文洛克创投的回报都超过了投资上市股票指数可实现的回报。两家公司都试图通过广泛的尽职调查和参与投后管理选择合适的早期投资，从而系统地实践长尾投资策略。两个有限合伙企业的历史反映了风投公司的日益专业化。

最后，风投公司的运作环境因政府政策转变而发生变化，这更有利于早期投资活动和有限合伙制结构的蓬勃发展。由于《雇员退休收入保障法》法规的变化，来自养老基金的风投承诺资金的增加导致了该行业的爆炸性增长；同时，资本利得税率的降低通过提高税后净支出增加了对需求侧企业家的激励（根据风投家所说）。在这些变化中，风投行业本身并不是被动的旁观者。相反，它积极游说美国政府支持对风投有利的政策。

这些变化意味着风投行业变得越来越制度化，对那些愿意寻找能够增强长尾投资组合的初创企业的个人来说，风投成为一个有吸引力的金融领域。与本章的主题相呼应，第六章将会展示这种持续发展也受到了政府的影响。独特的风险资本投资风格开始出现，这在硅谷的发展过程中体现得最为明显——在那里，公共投资在创建和培育风投支持的创业公司集群方面发挥了关键作用。


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