This matters - those LPs are generally large state and corporate pension funds, who may be investing YOUR retirement money. Many funds are underfunded and now are trying to chase yields, because they have always projected 7-8% annual returns across the fund and the traditional stock and bond markets have not been consistently providing that. So they're dumping more money into PE and VC funds in a (potentially disastrous) game of catch-up, because they alternative would be admitting defeat and the need to either cut benefits or massively increase funding of the pensions.
TL;DR: Until pension funds and endowments are happy to be compensated in rainbows and hugs, returns are the only thing that matter.
"The Kauffman Foundation was created to encourage entrepreneurship"
http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2012/05/07/how-venture...
Fortunately, I am not tied to group think, so I can be as creative as I would like to be. VC's are great. They take chances, and are willing to invest in things that are more than likely to fail than be successful. Discovery is the ultimate reward, and I am more than happy to lose money so long as it leads to a discovery that helps society as a whole.
VC's allow for experimentation, and even if the experiment fails, lessons are always learned. It's amazing how narrow minded business people are. Personally, I feel that knowledge gained is priceless and far outweighs short term profits. Thank you VC's for taking chances and for willing to think outside the box.
TL;DR: Knowledge is the ultimate return on investment.