At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco, all five current general partners at Benchmark will take the stage together for the first time in the firm’s history. In a session titled “What We Believe Now,” Jack Altman, Peter Fenton, Chetan Puttagunta, Everett Randle, and Eric Vishria will explore where the next generation of high-growth companies is likely to originate and which prevailing assumptions founders should reconsider.
The discussion comes as the venture landscape has shifted significantly. Benchmark recently restructured its investment strategy by raising approximately $2 billion, comprising a $750 million flagship fund and its inaugural $1.25 billion growth fund. This move marks one of the most substantial adjustments to the firm’s playbook in decades as it adapts to a market where AI has captured the majority of capital.
According to OECD data, AI-focused companies accounted for 61% of global venture capital investment in 2025, totaling $258.7 billion out of $427.1 billion in overall funding. However, this capital was heavily concentrated, with deals exceeding $100 million representing roughly 73% of total AI investment value. This disparity creates a competitive environment where appetite for technology is high, but conviction among investors is harder to secure.
The panel will address critical questions facing the industry: Is the application layer becoming overcrowded? Where does true defensibility lie—in models, infrastructure, proprietary data, or distribution? And are promising businesses being overlooked because everyone is pursuing the same trends?
The five partners bring diverse perspectives to the conversation. Peter Fenton boasts an extensive track record with investments spanning consumer and enterprise sectors, including current AI bets like Sierra, Digits, and Sema4.ai, as well as seven successful IPOs such as Twitter and Yelp. Chetan Puttagunta focuses on early-stage enterprise software, having backed firms like MongoDB and Elastic. Everett Randle invests across multiple stages and categories, with portfolio companies including Anthropic and SpaceX. Eric Vishria, who previously co-founded and sold RockMelt to Yahoo, specializes in infrastructure and enterprise software, citing investments in Amplitude and Cerebras Systems. Jack Altman joined Benchmark this year after founding Lattice and raising $425 million for his own firm, Alt Capital, providing a unique founder-to-investor viewpoint.
Vishria illustrated the complexity of identifying hidden opportunities by recounting his initial hesitation to meet with Cerebras in 2016. Finding the hardware startup’s goals too difficult and outside Benchmark’s comfort zone, he nearly declined the meeting. By the third slide of the presentation, however, he had changed his mind. Benchmark went on to co-lead Cerebras’ $25 million Series A, and the company recently went public with Benchmark holding a 9.5% stake.
The session aims to highlight not just a unified thesis, but how experienced investors disagree, update their assumptions, and determine where to place their bets. Attendees will be encouraged to challenge the panelists and question their own assumptions about market shifts and durable business trends.
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 returns to Moscone West from October 13–15, expecting more than 10,000 founders, investors, and innovators. Tickets are available at discounted rates for those registering before the price increase on September 25.
Sixty-one percent in AI feels like the bubble we saw with crypto. I wonder if they’ll admit some of those valuations are detached from reality?
Hard to believe all five GP’s share a stage together. That level of alignment must feel pretty rare for a firm this influential.