(Chart: Peter Walker / Carta)Guest Opinion: When I moved to Seattle in 2000 and started in venture capital, I read the book “The Silicon Boys: And Their Valley of Dreams,” which told the story of how venture capital drove the innovation ecosystem. More than 25 years later, venture capital is going through a dramatic evolution, chasing once-in-a-lifetime IPOs like SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI. If that’s not you, that’s fine — it just means priced venture equity may be the wrong instrument. It’s a loan taken alongside or shortly after an equity round, repaid over time with interest. It’s a loan taken alongside or shortly after an equity round, repaid over time with interest.