From Deputy Business Editor Rami Grunbaum:

Local venture capitalists help launch a lot of companies, but generally they don't wind up holding the big stakes when those companies go public. Other venture firms, with deeper pockets, usually step into that role by investing in later-stage financings.

An exception is the proposed initial public offering filed this month by Seattle biotech Trubion. Two VC funds with partners based here -- Frazier and Arch -- are the leading shareholders (with about 19 and 18 percent, respectively).

Here's the trivia question: When was the last time two local funds were the top shareholders in a local IPO?

According to our search of SEC filings, you've got to look back at least five and a half years.

Seattle Genetics' IPO, filed in late 2000, had Kirkland-based OVP, Bill Gates' Cascade Investments and Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures as biggest shareholders, with a collective 38 percent.

Quibblers may point out that Cascade and Vulcan aren't conventional VC funds. They're welcome to search even further back to find a satisfactory answer; please let us know.