In a story titled "Ignition Partners' Annus Horribilis," Connie Loizos at PeHub.com writes that the Bellevue venture capital firm's size "may have played a role in some recent missteps." It goes on to detail the blow up at Entellium as well as this week's shut down of Sotto Wireless. And -- in what certainly won't be well received by the 13 partners at the firm -- Loizos quotes an anonymous entrepreneur who says Ignition offers nothing more than "a check."

This is certainly bad PR, but is it true? As Loizos writes, Ignition was the rising star of Seattle's venture scene when it formed with top executives from McCaw Cellular and Microsoft. But her reporting indicates that the star has fallen, noting a "growing chorus" of critics.

And the story doesn't mention some of the other companies in the portfolio that have hit hard times, namely Jobster and RadioFrame.

In an email to PEHub.com, the firm's Jack Ferry conceded that 2008 was a "tough year" and that 2009 will be "even more challenging." But he did note the exits of Pure Networks and Xensource as bright spots over the past two years. Still, Ignition has never seen one of its companies go public.

Of course, venture capital is a high-risk, high-reward game. And while Entellium certainly was an embarrassing moment -- one that has had negative repercussions for the firm -- Ignition has a pile of cash at its disposal.

All it takes is one big pay off to turn things around. But in this climate, those exits are nearly impossible to find.