Venture capitalists and investors learned a lot from the mistakes that private-equity investors made in 2000. The result has been that they've changed the criteria for investing in online and media companies.
In the past they were willing to invest in startups that were completely new with no proven business model. The results of the untested startups were of course a disaster.
While there has been a huge amount of money made available recently (private-equity firms raised $215.4 billion spread across 322 funds), investors are still taking a much more cautious approach to investing in companies.
This time around there is an emphasis putting money into mergers and acquistions 
with companies that developed a proven business model.
What venture capital managers are looking for are companies that, as Toni Schneider, a venture partner in True Ventures said, need "many small investments to tweak an organization that's already got it figured out."
Let's put it another way, they aren't looking for theories and big ideas that haven't been tested and proven.
Let's put it yet another way, we have to have a longer term approach to what we're doing. For the most part, money isn't going to flow to wishful thinkers and those that make big promises, but rather to those who've proven their theories and are operationally viable.
There's not a lack of money at all, what is lacking are the proven business models that money is waiting to be invested in.
What's our job? To prove that what we believe is attainable through the execution of a strategy that brings measurable results. We have to prove that we've figured it out through results. Nothing else is going to attract the large amount of money available waiting on the sidelines.
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