• BusinessWeek, Wednesday, September 24, 2008 12:04 PM

As far as BusinessWeek's Spencer Ante can tell, Silicon Valley VCs believe "the tech industry will emerge relatively unscathed" from the financial crisis on Wall Street. Why? Because tech companies, for starters, don't really rely on debt, and Silicon Valley VCs are still "stocked to the gills" with cash.

"VC will survive," says Diana H. Frazier, managing partner of FLAG Capital Management, LLC, a Silicon Valley investor that places money with VC firms on behalf of other investors. "It is a long term business that doesn't react to short term crises."

That said, the deplorable state of our capital markets is something to be concerned about: This year, just six VC-backed companies have gone public, raising less than $500 million, compared to 86 companies last year that raised $10.3 billion. The National Venture Capital Association will meet in November to discuss the root of the IPO crisis for venture-backed companies, and make recommendations to the government as to how to revive this market.

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