However, no more than 2 percent to 4 percent of those contacting venture capital firms receive fi-nancing from them: see Exhibit 14.9 for the number of companies and the total investments made. De¬spite the increase in funds in the recent boom years, observers comment that the repeat fund-raisers "stav away from seed and early-stage investments largely because those deals tend to require relatively small amounts of capital, and the megafunds, with $500 million-plus to invest, like to make larger com¬mitments." Further, an entrepreneur may give up 15 percent to 75 percent oj his or her equity for seed/startup financing. Thus, after several rounds of venture financing have been completed, an entre¬preneur may own no more than 10 percent to 20 percent of the venture.
The venture capitalists' stringent criteria for their investments limit the number of companies receiv¬ing venture capital money. Venture capital investors