Venture capitalists don't normally like to mention companies they pass on that later go on to successful exits. Bessemer Venture Partners is the main exception. The firm actually lists some of the major startups they decided not to invest in that subsequently went on to success. Instead of making Bessemer look dumb, though, the list garners the firm heaps of publicity, makes it look down-to-Earth and furnishes it with the appearance that its deal flow is good.

So, others have adopted the Bessemer approach and confessed their previous mistakes. The latest is Kara Nortman, a senior associate at Battery Ventures. She notes on her blog, VentureInside, that Battery missed out on Third Screen Media, a mobile-phone advertising startup that was acquired by Microsoft last week for an undisclosed amount. The winners from that sale instead are TD Capital Ventures and Blue Chip Venture Company.

I'm sure Kara will get over it. She can always look back to just a few weeks ago when EMC purchased Kashya, a company she was involved with at Battery, for $153 million.

Tags: batteryventures, microsoft, vc, venture capital