This was my first time going to the Upfront Summit, an invite-only VC conference. And I don’t know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t a giant Etch-A-Sketch, roaming Coco robots, and a stage often bathed in bright pink light.
Upfront has a reputation for its glamor, but I pose to you—the vibe of the 2024 Upfront Summit was whimsical, with a catch. The catch, of course, is that it’s a tough environment for VCs and startups. And the trying times and whimsy are connected: In a VC downturn, do people really want high-octane pizzazz, or do they want to feel safe, transported back to childhood by an adult-sized LiteBrite? There may be celebrity sightings (Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Novak Djokovic, since I know you’re curious), but it’s clear that this year, the central story is that in a jittery moment everyone is trying to figure out what to do next.
It’s an environment that’s predictably bullish on AI, with waves of skepticism poking through. Founders Fund partner Brian Singerman, when asked onstage to describe what he considers a contrarian sector right now, said: “Anything that’s not AI.” When pressed, Singerman reiterated—go for crypto or fintech (at a certain point, any other sector will do), but there isn’t such a thing as a contrarian investment in AI right now.
There’s also a sense that we’ve been in VC winter for a while and some, like Shardul Shah of Index Ventures, suggested that the worst is over, that “we’re moving out of VC winter and into VC spring,” Shah said onstage. But as that transition plays out, it’s clear this is a time when VCs, their LPs, and founders feel as though they’re in the trenches, enduring the nitty-gritty moments that determine a company’s success—or failure.
“In times like this, we really need to get in and dig in,” Menlo Ventures partner Matt Murphy told the audience. “It’s not about showing up at a quarterly board meeting and being super prescriptive, because that’s going to get you nowhere—you’re going to lose trust with that entrepreneur and you won’t be deep in all the facts.”
Implicitly at Upfront, it seems like many people are thinking about what it takes to build or retain trust in an uncertain landscape, and what it actually means to make a long career out of venture capital. Evidence: One well-loved and attended panel featured a trio of “VC OGs,” Alan Patricof, Ray Lane, and Howard Morgan. In a key moment, Lane observed that “the bigger this industry gets, the older it gets, the less it changes.”
And that’s true enough. Take the conference itself—there have always been commerce-oriented reasons to come to Upfront. For startups, VCs, and LPs, this is a curated place, where everyone is interested in being in VC, being backed by VCs, or writing checks to VCs. I heard over and over from VCs that this is a great place to meet LPs, because you know they’re interested in venture, a key distinction in a moment where it’s unclear how venture allocations at large LPs are going to look over the next few years.
But, in a downturn, the wheeling and dealing just has a different tenor. And as I watched magician Kevin Li close out Day 1 (yes, there was a magic show), it occurred to me there was another reason for so many to come to the conference: In VC winter, a conference like Upfront is a place to feel a little bit less alone.
See you Monday,
Allie Garfinkle
Twitter: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
