1.   At first, the group tried outside venture deals while also mining ideas from Bell Labs.

2.   Banks account for only a sliver of all venture deals.

3.   But Gabelli parts company with Smith over certain venture deals.

4.   But the amount of money in venture deals is so much bigger now than it was a few years ago that the losses seem more significant.

5.   Casual observers of venture deals may not realize how many different investment businesses operate under the Softbank name in this country.

6.   Everybody knows prices have collapsed on venture deals.

7.   Everybody knows lawyers lurk behind the scenes in most venture deals, with pens in hand and advice on their lips.

8.   Fidelity has approached the news business as dispassionately as it reviews a Web-infrastructure venture deal or analyzes stocks in its growth funds.

9.   Gray suggested that New England companies tend not to be part of the biggest venture deals, which could affect the rankings.

10.   Interspeed and other companies like it have become public venture deals proposing the dangerous combination of venture capital level risk at public stock market prices.