I know people who have and like the venom, but I know a lot more who have had them and hate them. I wouldn't waste my money.
If I was just getting into the hobby, I would buy a SCX-10 RTR if I want to just have fun and mess around or if I plan on competing I would get a Axial XR-10 kit and all of the fancy expensive electronics.
There are many different brands out there now that try to compete, but you pay for what you get. Axial is the king of RC crawling right now. Losi has very nice crawlers, but they are a money pit and a headache. Bergs and Bullys are also expensive but they get the job done. Other companies like RS, Venom, and the other knockoffs, really don't have the quality needed to have fun.
And so you don't think my views are biased, I have comped a berg, bully, losi cc, XR-10, AX-10, creeper, and the losi mini, and I currently own two homemade axials, and a losi comp crawler.