Venture capitalists aren't that bullish on the economy for next year, with 60 percent of respondents to a survey from the National Venture Capital Association predicting a decline.

Still, the majority of the venture capitalists surveyed see strength in parts of the venture market, with 71 percent saying that total investment levels will grow modestly and finish in the range of $20 billion to $29 billion. Fifty-nine percent also believe that the IPO market will continue to recover.

Patrick Ennis

While the majority of VCs believe that mergers and acquisitions will increase, there is some disagreement on the values companies will command. Thirty-five percent of the VCs predict higher valuations, while 27 percent anticipate declines. The remainder think values will stay the same. There's also some disagreement over politics. Thirty-nine percent believe that Hillary Clinton will be the next president, followed by 21 percent who predict Rudy Giuliani.

The survey also includes predictions from several venture capitalists, including this one from Patrick Ennis of Arch Venture Partners in Seattle.

"In 2008 we will experience another strong year for venture funded startups. Never believe the negative predictions from professional prognosticators of pervasive pessimism - they sound like a broken record. The benefits of technology continue to spread through all aspects of the economy and around the world, across many sectors such as biotechnology, materials science, advanced computing, telecommunications and energy technologies."

Ennis actually was one of four VCs who I asked to offer predictions for 2007 in a column last January, including this one: "The new Apple iPhone will be a flop."

I will be revisiting all of the predictions in an upcoming column. And, as always, I will be asking a new group of VCs to get out their crystal balls for 2008. Stay tuned.