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The increased capital intensity of venture capital supply and the increased knowledge intensity of new venture supply have created a knowledge gap and recreated a capital gap between new venture activity and venture capital industry. This development has given rise to an all‐new breed of players. In this descriptive, qualitative study, V2C activity is explored in a local context through comparison of cases Tampere (Finland) and Silicon Valley (USA). In Silicon Valley, the dominant group of V2C players is business angels, whereas in Tampere, publicly funded incubators play the most visible role in new venture development. Nevertheless, in both areas, five different categories of V2C players are represented, and, in both, bridge the gaps to a significant extent.

The sizes, and thereby minimum investments, of venture capital funds grew phenomenally during 1995‐2000. Simultaneously, business started to transform from capital to knowledge intensive and a new gap emerged between venture and capital. A diverse group of actors referred to herein as Venture‐to‐Capital or V2C players help entrepreneurs gross this gap. While incubators, business angels, and various other types of V2C players serve an important role in the emerging knowledge economy, research on their operation has been scarce. The objective of this exploratory study is to define the usability of performance measurement (PM) in the V2C context. Also in the V2C context, PM should be carried out by using a balanced set of measures from several perspectives. Herein, V2C operating models are examined, and critical success‐factors searched‐for, from the perspectives of both entrepreneur and venture capitalist. We suggest nine success factors, several underlying measures, and directions for further research.