Five Benchmark partners on one stage

Jack Altman, Peter Fenton, Chetan Puttagunta, Everett Randle, and Eric Vishria will appear together on the Disrupt Stage for the first time. The session is called "What We Believe Now."

Focus on the future, not the past

Rather than discussing where venture capital has been, the panel will explore where it goes next: which startups will emerge, what founder assumptions need rethinking, and which opportunities remain hidden.

Benchmark made a major strategic shift

This year Benchmark raised approximately two billion dollars across a seven hundred fifty million dollar flagship fund and its first one point two five billion dollar growth fund. The firm is moving beyond its traditional concentrated early-stage model.

AI captured most venture funding in 2025

According to the OECD, AI companies captured 61% of global venture capital investment in 2025, totaling 258.7 billion dollars of 427.1 billion dollars invested overall. But large deals dominated, with investments over 100 million dollars representing roughly 73% of total AI investment value.

Capital is abundant, conviction is rare

Venture has plenty of money but investors struggle to find conviction. The market faces questions about whether the next billion-dollar company is another AI application or if that layer is already overcrowded.

“Venture has plenty of capital. Conviction is harder to find.”

Jack Altman brings founder perspective

Altman joined Benchmark this year after founding Lattice and building Alt Capital, which raised 425 million dollars. His path gives the discussion a direct founder-to-investor perspective.

Peter Fenton's long track record

Fenton has one of venture's longest track records spanning consumer and enterprise companies. He has served as director through seven successful IPOs including Twitter, Elastic, New Relic, Zendesk, and Yelp.

Chetan Puttagunta focuses on enterprise

Puttagunta specializes in early-stage enterprise software and has backed companies including MongoDB, MuleSoft, Elastic, Modern Treasury, Legora, and Stytch.

Everett Randle invests across stages

Randle brings experience investing across stages and categories, with investments including Anthropic, SpaceX, Rippling, Flock Safety, Gumloop, and Chainguard.

Eric Vishria's infrastructure expertise

Vishria focuses on early-stage infrastructure and enterprise software, with investments including Amplitude, Confluent, Fireworks.ai, and Cerebras Systems. Before investing, he was a startup CEO who co-founded RockMelt before its acquisition by Yahoo.

The Cerebras story: changing your mind

Vishria almost skipped his first meeting with Cerebras in 2016 because hardware was outside Benchmark's comfort zone. By the third slide he changed his mind. Benchmark co-led the Series A, and ten years later Cerebras went public with Benchmark holding a 9.5% stake.

Best opportunities don't look obvious

The Cerebras example shows that the best opportunity doesn't always arrive looking like the consensus winner. Sometimes it challenges existing theses, arrives too early, or creates a market that doesn't yet exist.

What founders should learn here

Founders can learn how sophisticated investors assess markets, teams, and opportunities. Understanding these frameworks helps founders challenge their own assumptions and see where capital may flow next.

Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 returns to San Francisco's Moscone West from October 13 to 15, bringing together more than 10,000 founders, investors, operators, and innovators across six stages. Register before September 25 to save up to 200 dollars.