Whether or not it's a bad recipe isn't for me to say however I do struggle to understand the motivation VC's have when they invest millions into companies like lanyrd.com who publicly state (even many months after receiving funding) that they have no idea how they plan to monetise the company.

Huge userbase, no monetisation plan. I appreciate all investment is a risk but surely investing in a company who has no clue how to monetise is immensely risky?

It's risky yes, but VCs do some of their own analysis of likely monetization strategies, along with potential acquisition value of companies. In some areas that revolves around userbase and data: is there someone who would buy the company for its users and the data it's accumulated about them? If so, it may be worth investing in, regardless of revenue.

Totally. I read the headline and thought "and...?"