Google's Creative Destruction | Fast Company

Hah -- hadn't seen the title of this article before my previous post

"Google's insurgent attitude--perceiving startup funding as broken and appointing itself as the fixer--has ruffled some in the insular, clubby world of venture capital. Not on the record, of course. Google Ventures is already big enough that it has participated in deals with almost every prominent Valley investor, and nobody wants to talk ill of a partner. Behind the scenes, though, some question the firm's experience--most of its partners are former Googlers who haven't worked in venture capital before--and its passion. If you were looking for money and were choosing between Google Ventures and such top firms as Andreessen Horowitz or Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, people would tell you to go with one of the other guys.
Maris understands the skepticism. "If I'm an entrepreneur and I have a term sheet from Sequoia and Kleiner, that's the safe choice. Google Ventures is the brave choice." But Maris argues that won't be the case for long. "We're in the process of rethinking everything, from top to bottom, so that over time, Google Ventures becomes the safe choice.""

Google's Creative Destruction | Fast Company