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Tech start-ups are waiting “way too long to go public”, the head of Google’s venture capital arm has warned, highlighting a widening rift in Silicon Valley over the fate of the latest generation of fast-growing start-ups.
谷歌(Google)的风险资本子公司的主管警告称，科技初创企业“在上市前等待的时间太长了”。此言凸显硅谷对最新一代快速增长的初创企业的命运的分歧日益扩大。
Many of the companies leading the technology boom, including Uber and Airbnb, have sought to stay private as long as possible, raising ever-larger amounts of money from successive rounds of private investment. But the mood is changing and investors are growing skittish.
包括优步(Uber)和Airbnb在内，很多引领科技热的公司一直寻求尽可能长地保持私有状态，在一轮接一轮的私募投资中筹集越来越多的资金。但市场情绪开始发生变化，投资人开始变得紧张。
Bill Maris, head of Google Ventures, one of California’s most active VC firms, warned some start-ups might rue deciding to exploit the private markets to push for high headline valuations, rather than selling shares to the public.
加利福尼亚最活跃的风险资本公司之一Google Ventures的掌舵人比尔氠里斯(Bill Maris)警告称，部分初创企业到头来可能对不向公开发售股票、而是利用私募市场追求高整体估值的决定感到后悔。
“They’re setting the bar so inordinately high they’re making life difficult for themselves,” Mr Maris said in an interview with the Financial Times. “There’s going to be some fallout: some of them will lose a lot of money.”
“他们把标杆设得高不可攀，结果使自己的日子不好过，”马里斯在接受英国《金融时报》采访时表示。“这将带来一些冲击波：有些人将蒙受很大亏损。”
Next year, many will be unable to raise more cash in the private markets or will be forced to accept lower valuations, he said. Google Ventures, which is changing its name to GV, has backed more than 300 companies since its creation six years ago.
他表示，明年，许多公司要么将无法从私募市场筹到更多资金，要么将被迫接受更低估值。即将改名为“GV”的Google Ventures自6年前创立以来，已投资了300多家公司。
Investors who had stampeded into the private markets for a chance to back companies such as Uber, Airbnb and Snapchat have become far more risk-averse in recent weeks, especially after questions were raised about the validity of claims made by blood-testing start-up Theranos.
争相涌入私募市场、以便找机会入股优步、Airbnb和Snapchat之类企业的投资人，在近几周已变得更加厌恶风险，尤其是在血液检测初创企业Theranos的说法的可信性引发质疑之后。
“There’s less money, more fear, more caution,” Mr Maris said.
“钱更少了，人们的担心和谨慎更多了，”马里斯表示。
The prospect of interest rate rises in the US will make the private markets even more hostile for start-ups, he said. “Suddenly, being a public company is going to look a whole lot more exciting”.
美国加息的前景将导致私募市场甚至更加敌视初创企业，他表示。“突然间，成为一家公开上市公司看起来将更为振奋人心”。
The warnings signal a reversal of what has become received wisdom during the tech boom, as venture capitalists courted entrepreneurs with promises of leaving them free to stay private rather than pushing them to cash out.
这些警告表明，科技热期间形成的公认智慧发生了逆转，此前风险投资家向创业者献殷勤，承诺让他们保持私有状态，而不会推动他们去变现。
