Is this what an early-stage slowdown looks like?

Hello and welcome back to our regular morning look at private companies, public markets and the gray space in between.

Today we're exploring some fascinating data from Silicon Valley Bank markets report for Q1 2020. We're digging into two charts that deal with the early-stage funding market, and after we unpack what the local Iron Bank of Braavos has to share, we'll bring in some other data and see if we can back up our conclusions.

To avoid keeping you waiting, it appears that global early-stage deal counts could be slipping. But is this is a real early-stage slowdown?

For founders hoping to get their company out of their minds and into the world, it's a key question. Without ample early-stage funding, the startup and venture pipeline begins to constrict, eventually limiting late-stage activity after crimping its early-stage sibling.

So let's dig in and parse out what we can. To the charts!

A global slowdown