VC 2.0 Part 3 or "You guys are so OVER"

Lots of email, discussion, and all kinds of fun things happening with my open ended question regarding doing a little shaking up in the VC community.

Jeff Jarvis (hope you are feeling better, Jeff) had an interesting comment added to his entry on Craig’s list and playing the Walmart card. You can link to what he pulled out of the comments here but before you go read it, here is a filter I’d like you to add to the mix. 

View this as being about old guard vs. new guard thinking in general. Ronnie, the guy who wrote the blurb, said among other things:

“I used Craig’s list and Google to find apartments in BR, Lafayette, Seattle (for my son), St. Louis (another son), and Houston (yet another). Exactly how would the fabled print media have helped with that. By the time any print ad could be processed the places were gone….

So wake up, pull the head out of that dark place, and join the 21st century. Just because other people are now making the money you used to make does not mean society is jeopardized. Believe me, someone will go to the freaking zoning meeting. To quote my youngest, “You guys are just so OVER.”

Thanks Wal Mart, and Craig, and Bill Gates, and AOL, and Steve jobs, and all of the other folks who were innovating for a better future while the old guard was sitting on their hands and collecting self generated awards for stories of the past. I cannot imagine what it would have been like without you. I would have had to read a newspaper; in a shelter.

I’ll take the net, Craigs list, and the blogs. You take FEMA, the local daily, and the hard wired phone. Best of luck.”

Again, to be clear: I’m not saying the whole VC world is coming apart or dying rather there are major shifts happening all around us and my profession has both opportunities available as well as changes to be made. When I read this stuff, I’d like to make sure I’m not part of the “old guard.”  Or, as Jeff puts it: “That’s the future calling.”

Lots of ideas coming in. I’ll be posting some of these things shortly.