Since we hold ourselves to a high standard in terms of the data and methodological rigor we employ, we are very passionate about the need to report venture capital data & activity accurately.   (see our recent blog post on this here)

Surprisingly, we never saw any conversation about this in the past, but we’re glad that with some gentle cajoling, we are starting to see the incumbents in this space finally talk about their methodologies and definitions. 

Here are some of the recent highlights and discussions around venture capital definitions and methodology that have surfaced recently (in chronological order):

• October 19, 2009 - Why Better Technology & Process Trumps History: Getting to More Accurate Venture Capital Data & Statistics - This was posted by us and kicked things off
• October 20, 2009 - PwC MoneyTree Says Dow Jones VentureSource Includes Venture Debt in VC Numbers - This came from an article by Anthony Ha of VentureBeat who quotes Tracy Lefteroff, global managing partner of venture capital at PriceWaterhouse Coopers
• October 21, 2009 - Breaking Down Differences in VC Data - Posted by Jessica Canning, Director, Global Research at Dow Jones VentureSource

We are glad that our team has been able to spur this much-needed conversation.  We encourage those of you interested in this subject to take a look at the above links.  If we see something from the folks at Thomson, we’ll be sure to post that as well.  Thanks.