Matt McIlwain the Only Seattle-Area VC on New Forbes “Midas List”

With March Madness officially over, Forbes is feeding the thirst for some statistical gamesmanship with its latest “Midas List,” an attempt to rank the country’s top 100 venture capitalists. The Seattle area has just one entry on the list: Madrona Venture Group‘s Matt McIlwain, at No. 75—in fact, there were more women in the rankings than people from the Puget Sound region. Forbes cited, of course, the huge $2.25 billion purchase of Isilon Systems by EMC, along with the 2008 acquisitions of World Wide Packets and Farecast.

The Forbes rankings are based on both data and subjective factors. You can check out the full methodology statement, which acknowledges “blind spots” in record-keeping. Shorter version: They analyzed exits of $200 million or more during the past five years for venture-financed companies in the U.S., Europe and Israel (Asia will be part of a separate list). That data also was weighted, for example giving higher scores to earlier-stage investments, and an expert panel chimed in with some less mathematical judgments.

I’d think that with a five-year timeline, we might see more local VCs mentioned, but maybe the dollar threshold is the key. Please feel free to register any complaints with the methodology, oversights, or general displeasure with this particular bit of media click-bait in the comments. Also, prepare for a horrifyingly intrusive rollover video ad on the Forbes site.

Author: Curt Woodward

Curt covered technology and innovation in the Boston area for Xconomy. He previously worked in Xconomy’s Seattle bureau and continued some coverage of Seattle-area tech companies, including Amazon and Microsoft. Curt joined Xconomy in February 2011 after nearly nine years with The Associated Press, the world's largest news organization. He worked in three states and covered a wide variety of beats for the AP, including business, law, politics, government, and general mayhem. A native Washingtonian, Curt earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. As a past president of the state's Capitol Correspondents Association, he led efforts to expand statehouse press credentialing to online news outlets for the first time.