Several months ago, I talked to a VC, who was kind of glum. He said: "M&A as an exit is OK for our investments. But the big returns come from IPOs. And, if things don't comeback on that front, it will be trouble for the VC industry."

Well, according to a recent piece in SiliconValley.com, there may be hope.

For example, there have been a variety of strong tech IPOs recently. Examples include: Riverbed Technologies, eHealth, and Acme Packet.

In fact, this week, we saw strong performances from Isilon Systems and IPG Photonics.

Interestingly enough, the bad-times may have meant stronger VC-backed companies. That is, they had to focus on building strong business models.

So, while the IPO market is starting to comeback, investors are getting quality deals.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates DealProfiles.com.

IPOs to save venture capitalists? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.