This way out: Jim Perry, Madison Dearborn Partners

Abstract

According to Jim Perry, managing director of Madison Dearborn Partners, many VCs - including his own - got caught up in a false sense of success. Currently the firm has stakes in more than 40 communications companies. Perry sits on the boards of many of the companies in which Madison Dearborn holds a stake and preaches conservative use of capital and attention to the fundamentals. The economic slowdown and tighter capital markets mean that VCs will act more slowly and deliberately when making investment decisions.