For those of who were around in 1999, denial is a familiar refrain. Although it is too early to see if this downturn will last, the reality is that VC's and PE firms often have decisions made for them as their LPs start to yank funds or fail to honor their funding obligations. That in turn hampers their ability to maintain their portfolios and eliminates their ability to invest into new ventures. The problem over the last 18 months has been that with ever increasing valuations, many companies have taken money in stages hoping to capitalize on up rounds. My guess is that there are a lot of cash hungry tech firms who were needing to get deals done by year end who might be out of luck.