Insider Chatter by Donna Bogatin

In attempting to calm the Internet age discrimination fracas he fueled, Fred Wilson, A VC, actually doubles down on his youth rules the Web thesis, with a concluding generational rally:

I am seeing way more super young entrepreneurs than I’ve ever seen. That’s a fact. End of story. No more posting on this topic.

What are Wilson’s “facts”?:

The sheer volume of young entrepreneurs we are seeing is unprecendented in my 20 years in the VC business. This is not like what happened during the bubble. Back then it was newly minted MBAs strarting companies out of greed. This is different. This is 15 to 20 year old kids building and launching authentic Web services that fill a real need in the market.

Wilson, however, is undoubedtly not “seeing” 15 year old entrepreneurs; He is most likely being “dazzled” by teenage hackers (much as the Wilson “kids” bowl him over with their interactive communications insights).

What A VC calls “greed” on the part of (who needs?) MBAs is actually revenue-driven, solid business planning, which VCs ordinarily demand.

How entrepreneurial really are today’s whiz kid hackers? After all, any teenager now can begin “developing” a “cool” app on a Friday and “unleash” it to the Web world the following Monday, no money (or even time) down.

Who needs a proprietary, monetizable business model? Google AdSense will do just fine, just ask Marc Ning Andreessen.

Hackathons do not entrepreneurs make. Wilson, deep down, agrees.

In my post yesterday, Dave Winer vs. Fred Wilson: You Go Dave!,I underscored that Wilson is not putting his old money where his youthful mouth is.

In noting an underwhelming “youthful” Web services mindset, I wrote: If “they” are showing “us” how the Internet “needs to be used,” perhaps that is the reason why Wilson has “only funded one of these net natives out of close to fifteen portfolio companies.”

Wilson agrees with my assessment. He writes now of his “frustration” that he has been so “misunderstood” by the blogosphere:

Let me re-emphasize a point that I’ve now made three times but seems to be ignored by all the people who I’ve annoyed. We have funded only one 20 something entrepreneur in close to 15 investments we’ve made so far in our fund.

So to Dave and everyone else I’ve pissed off, please take a second to read everything I’ve written on this subject. I am not an ageist.

I didn’t ignore Wilson’s contradictory “musings.” But then again, A VC didn’t “annoy” me, he amused this (proud) MBA, and former investment banker.

CONTACT DONNA BOGATIN