現(xiàn)在的私募市場正在經(jīng)歷淘金熱。

新基金和投資者正在以前所未有的方式向私募市場投入大筆資金。這個未知的領(lǐng)域為創(chuàng)業(yè)公司和投資者提供了新的機(jī)會和挑戰(zhàn)?！敦敻弧纷罹哂绊懥Φ纳探缗苑鍟诮衲?0月21在華盛頓特區(qū)開幕，一個由私募市場投資專家組成的小組在本次會議上討論了資本洪流正在如何改變投資。

“10年或15年前，市場上可能有5家競爭者?，F(xiàn)在差不多有50家了?！盩PG Growth的合伙人希瑟·史密斯·索恩表示，“問題是這些企業(yè)都很年輕。”許多競爭者還沒有站穩(wěn)腳跟。

NEA的風(fēng)險合伙人希拉里·科洛-麥克亞當(dāng)斯一開始就說：“有這么多資金投入是件好事?！比欢?，她接著說，問題是創(chuàng)業(yè)公司如何用好這些錢?！熬拖耩B(yǎng)孩子一樣，如果你不設(shè)限，就會面臨各種各樣的行為。由于獲得資本相對容易，所以投資者應(yīng)當(dāng)考慮，我應(yīng)該和哪家公司合作？在為公司的增長戰(zhàn)略提供建議時，我們必須就如何使用資本問一下這個至關(guān)重要的問題：你們的經(jīng)濟(jì)戰(zhàn)略是什么？她指出，這不是一個放之四海而皆準(zhǔn)的問題，不同的商業(yè)模式下有不同的經(jīng)濟(jì)模式。她認(rèn)為，在特定的增長戰(zhàn)略下，有時投入大量資本是有必要的。

她接著說，很多初創(chuàng)公司想實現(xiàn)的都是她所說的“花生醬效應(yīng)”，也就是說“每個人都能夠分到一點”新資本。這與致力于按照優(yōu)先次序分配資金的策略背道而馳。

“我問他們?nèi)绾伟凑章毮芡顿Y于人，”科洛-麥克亞當(dāng)斯說，“你如何衡量他們的成功？這個問題總是讓人們躊躇?！彼f，情況往往是，人們會把不同角色的職能考慮在內(nèi)，卻沒有考慮如何部署這些資源。這時，排定優(yōu)先級至關(guān)重要。

每個人都十分關(guān)注的另一個重要問題是：盈利和增長之間的權(quán)衡。近年來，在公開市場上，人們更重視增長，而忽視了盈利能力。這種現(xiàn)象造成了一些混亂局面——最近最著名的例子是WeWork首次公開募股失敗。

“私募市場在很大程度上受到公開市場的影響?！盩rinity Ventures的普通合伙人帕特里夏·納卡什表示?！八侥际袌隹偸窍耒姅[一樣擺蕩。我們已經(jīng)付出高昂代價，擺向了增長。但現(xiàn)在公開市場已經(jīng)下場，并高調(diào)表示，這種做法太過頭了。我們需要為盈利掃清道路，需要重新校準(zhǔn)。”納卡什稱這是從華爾街到早期的涓滴效應(yīng)。她說，現(xiàn)在這種思潮已經(jīng)逐漸進(jìn)入后期階段。與此同時，她警告說：“私募市場如果矯枉過正，將犯下另一個錯誤?！?/p>

包括軟銀的莉迪亞·杰特在內(nèi)的其他討論者也表示贊同?！拔覀円恢痹趯ふ移胶??！笨坡?麥克亞當(dāng)斯說，“如果不在增長模式內(nèi)，真正的成本利潤率是多少？” 她認(rèn)為，無論是私募市場還是公開市場，投資于增長的條件是仔細(xì)觀察增長利潤下潛在的杠桿，看看是否具有彈性或存在潛在風(fēng)險。

“這不是賠不賠錢的問題。這是怎么賠錢的問題。”史密斯·索恩的玩笑話讓參會人員會心大笑，“所以要好好想想怎么賠?！保ㄘ敻恢形木W(wǎng)）

It’s a gold rush out there.

New funds and investors are putting an unprecedented amount of capital into the private market. This uncharted landscape presents new opportunities—and new challenges—for startups and investors alike. A panel of private-market investing experts at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit, which kicked off in Washington, D.C. Monday, discussed how the flood of capital is changing investing.

“Ten or fifteen years ago, there were like five competitors in the market. Now there's like fifty,” Heather Smith Thorne, partner at TPG Growth, said. “The problem is that these guys are young.” Many competitors haven’t found their footing yet.

“It’s great that there’s been a lot of capital,” Hilarie Koplow-McAdams, Venture Partner at NEA, began. However, she continued, the question was how startups used such proceeds. “Like raising children, if you have no limits you get a wide range of behaviors. Capital is relatively easy to come by, so they should think about, what firm do I partner with? For those advising them on growth strategies, we have to ask important questions on the use of proceeds: What do your unit economic strategies look like?” She noted that this was not a one-size-fits-all question—different business models have different economic models beneath them. She suggested that sometimes a lot of capital was necessary if taken into the context of a specific growth strategy.

A lot of startups, she continued, wanted what she called the “peanut buttering effect,” in which “everyone gets a little” of the fresh capital. That’s opposed to the hard work of prioritizing where best to deploy capital.

“I ask how they they invest in people by function,” Koplow-McAdams said. “How do you measure how they’re successful? That gives people pause.” She said oftentimes, people have thought about functions of roles, but they haven’t thought about how to deploy that resource. That’s where the prioritization exercises come in.

Another big issue on everyone’s radar: the trade-off between profitability and growth. In recent years in public markets, profitability has been overlooked for growth. That’s resulted in some snafus—the most lurid and late example being that of WeWork’s failed attempt at an IPO.

“Private markets are heavily influenced by what happens in public markets,” said Patricia Nakache, General Partner at Trinity Ventures. “There’s always a pendulum swing in private markets. We have swung way out towards growth at most costs. But now public markets have weighed in and resoundingly said, this has gone too far. We need to clear a path for profitability and we need to recalibrate.” Nakache spoke to a trickle-down effect from Wall Street to early stage. Now, she said, this ethos was trickling down to late stage. At the same time, she cautioned, “It’s a mistake in private markets to go from extreme to extreme.”

The other panelists, which included SoftBank’s Lydia Jett, agreed. “We’re always searching for equilibrium,” Koplow-McAdams said. “What are true cost margins if you weren’t in growth mode?” Private or public, she believes in investing for growth as long as a good look is given to underlying levers underneath growth margins to see whether there is elasticity or underlying risk.

“It’s not about losing money. It’s how you lose the money,” Smith Thorne joked to knowing laughter in the room. “So lose it thoughtfully.”