Stanford Study: Top 5% of VCs Capture 90% of Profits, New Ranking Reveals
brucemacv · x · 2026-08-24
Stanford GSB professor Ilya Strebulaev released a study analyzing 230,000 investments over 30 years, revealing that the top 5% of VCs generate roughly 90% of industry profits. The ranking adjusts for inflated private valuations (50% overstatement), dilution, net costs, and time decay. It shows a low correlation (0.27) with the Forbes Midas List. For instance, SV Angel backed 139 unicorns but ranked 31st, while Thrive backed 47 and ranked 8th.
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