It's clearly more challenging for entrepreneurs seeking VC funding for the first time.

The basic pattern is the more money that comes in, the lower the returns.

They're really applying the principles of entrepreneurial management even if they're not making a profit.

They still have to have vision, the ability to undertake an ambitious project, to leverage resources, to manage financing. We thought it would be very useful for the students to look at a situation that was very different from the normal one.

The probability of VCs investing in a start-up is far less likely than it was in 1999. And that's bad news for entrepreneurs.

The patent system is a trade-off. We get the 'good' of an invention in exchange for the 'bad' of a temporary monopoly on that invention.

Our standards-setting process risks being corrupted by having people filing for, and getting, any patents they want. That poses a real danger to the effectiveness of innovation.

Silver Lake has been unquestionably the most successful of the current wave of tech buyout groups. They have shown that despite the apparent risks of these deals, considerable money can me made.