Better Ventures

REVIEW SUMMARY
Event. Florida Venture Capital Conference
Industry. Finance
Key. Venture capital investors are scouting more opportunities to buy and sell stakes in growing companies.

The Florida Venture Forum's annual conference in Naples in 2009 wasn't exactly a celebration of private enterprise.

The star of that event was a state-sponsored investment fund. The financial markets had come to a stop after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in late 2008 and entrepreneurs were eager to tap into government funds to grow their business, the only source of money available.