If you check out this presentation by Max Levchin delivered several weeks ago as part of UIUC's reflections/projections distinguished lecture series, you noticed that his theme was "start a startup now now NOW!". One of the main reasons for doing so that he mentioned was this phenomenon of the "overhang" regarding venture capital companies. Essentially, this is the phenomenon wherein VC's have more money than they know what to do with, and are actually looking for companies to invest in. He argues that we are in such a time right now, and so get out there and make a company. This New York times article (oh get over yourself and click the link) seems to confirm that we are indeed in such a state, although for a different reason than you might expect. Some companies (e.g. Meebo, Reddit) are even turning VC's down and deciding to finance their company on a shoestring (Meebo did it on credit cards for god's sake!).