Scholars measure the economic impact of VC-funded companies

None of the conclusions/inferences drawn from this exercise are unexpected or counterintuitive, but the magnitude of VC-backed public company spending - 82% of all R&D spend of public companies founded after 1979 - is pretty stunning. And this number doesn't factor in private VC-funded R&D spend which would probably bring the figure closer to 90%, if not higher.

Also interesting to note how the VC industry became the powerhouse it is today:

In 1978, the attractiveness of venture capital received a shot in the arm that transformed the industry from having lived on life-support for seven years to a robust institution. The 1978 Revenue Act reduced the capital gains rate from 49 1/2% to 28%. The flow of monies into venture capital funds jumped from $68 million to nearly $1 billon. Then in 1979, Congress passed the ERISA “Prudent Man” Rule that allowed pension funds to invest in venture capital. Again, venture capital benefited. By 1983, new commitments exceeded $5 billion. [1]

Also interesting to note that the largest source of funding for VC firms is now pension funds, meaning that poor VC performance could affect the money that states set aside for retirement. [2] But equally important is to note that the average pension fund allocates less than 1% to VC funding, so it wouldn't be a huge deal if VCs were to fail in a vacuum.

[1] http://www.historyofcomputercommunications.info/Book/7/7.10-...

[2] http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-09-23/are-public-p...

I wonder what those numbers would look like if you included private companies

I like how the dot-com bubble shows up as a sharp spike on the dashed line.