Should venture capital decision making criteria be used by foundations when evaluating grant proposals?
Question 1: Can venture capital decision-making criteria be used to identify predictors of success or failure in New and Innovative nonprofit programs? An affirmative answer to the first question relies on two premises. The first is that venture capital decision-making criteria can be used to predict the success or failure of new for-profit companies. This premise is supported by venture capital literature. Four articles are reviewed. The first and second address intuition and specific criteria in decision-making and risk management. The last two articles suggest that venture capital decision-making criteria can be linked to the future performance of the venture. The second premise is that venture capital decision-making criteria can be used to foretell the success or failure of New and Innovative programs in the nonprofit sector. To test this hypothesis, the author conducted a series of brief interviews with the program directors of 10 programs that received funding from the Jewish Co
