Feeling the Facebook Blues: GSV Capital, Placing Bets on Start-Ups, Falters

Few investors have ridden the recent Internet boomlet like the GSV Capital Corporation.  After GSV announced in June 2011 that it was buying a stake in the privately held Facebook, the closed-end mutual fund surged 42 percent that day. Capitalizing on the euphoria, GSV sold another $247 million of its shares, using the money to expand its portfolio of hot start-ups like Groupon and Zynga according to a NY Times' Dealbook report.

Now, GSV is feeling the Facebook blues.  When the public offering of the social network flopped, GSV fell hard, and it still has not recovered. Shares of GSV, which were sold for an average of $15.35, are trading at $8.54.

Michael T. Moe of GSV, the largest of several closed-end mutual funds that offer ordinary investors a chance to own stakes in privately held companies.  GSV, short for Global Silicon Valley, is the largest of several closed-end mutual funds that offer ordinary investors a chance to own stakes in privately held companies, at least indirectly….

Wait...wait...there's more at http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/08/29/gsv-capital-placing-bets-on-start-ups-falters/?src=dlbksb