This longitudinal quantitative study investigates how organizational structure and the external environment impact VC firm survival. It examines how macroeconomic conditions may influence independent (IVC) firms and corporate (CVC) units differently. Results suggest CVCs and IVCs exhibit similar lifespans but add an important subtlety: for the first few years of their lives CVC units show higher mortality, but afterwards are longer-lived. They also show an imprinting effect, whereby all VC firms born in more difficult macroeconomic conditions show a higher long-run survival rate, contradicting prior studies of general firms. Finally, this imprinting effect is initially more pronounced in CVC firms.