Attention, Valley of the Heart's Delight: There's bad news in theNew York Times. The bullet points:

  • Only five venture capital backed companies went public last quarter. 31 turned public in 2007's fourth quarter.
  • Only 28 percent of all venture-backed companies that went public last year have shares trading above their IPO level. Usually, that number is around 50 percent.
  • Angel investment is flat after growing every year since 2003.
  • As the dollar drops, outsourced labor costs more.
  • 2007's first three months saw just 56 acquisitions, compared to 83 in the fourth quarter.
  • 2008 will see the local economy create 10,000 new jobs, down from 17,700 in 2007 and 25,000 in 2006 — the year Google acquired YouTube.

(Photo by scottobear)