It seems to me that this guy ("Dr" Michael Garbade) is just a complete fraud. His supposed doctoral thesis can be found here:

http://www.slideshare.net/mjmjg/differences-in-venture-capit...

I mean, just read this small snippet. It honestly seems like it was written by an average high school freshman...

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1.2 Research Objectives

Although there are certainly differences in the venture capital financing of startups within one given country, this study no more than focuses on the differences across countries: US, UK, Germany, and France. The Boston way of venture capital financing of startups indisputably differs somehow from the California way. Likewise, the London way of venture capital financing of startups indubitably deviates from the Manchester way. Supposedly, the Paris way of venture capital financing of startups is distinctive from the Lyon way. Moreover, the Munich way of financing of startups alternates from the Berlin way. The research study willfully neglects a priori the minor differences within each country and views each country as a homogeneous cluster. Therefore, the implicit assumptions of this empirical research study are:

* There is a US way of venture capital financing of startups

* There is a UK way of venture capital financing of startups

* There is a German way of venture capital financing of startups

* There is a French way of venture capital financing of startups

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Then, if you want a real laugh, go to page 24 of that "thesis" to behold Figure 1 (Link between e-Commerce and e-Business). There are literally 2 circles shown, one inside of the other.

I really think YC has been played here.