Bear Stearns' epic fail will make M&A financing hard to come by. IPOs seem to have gone the way of Kozmo.com. That leaves exactly zero practical exit strategies for VCs. I came away with that insight after swimming through the flood of water metaphors in Tom Abate's economic pulse-taker in the Chronicle.

A lack of M&A activity could have long-term repercussions for the venture industry. To attract investors to new funds, VCs need to have a track record of successfully flipped startups, and those deals require buyers and financing. Which might explain why everyone's being so nice to Frank "not a symbol of corruption" Quattrone, whose Qatalyst M&A advice shop is one of many springing up to take Wall Street's place. (Photo by Sproston Green)