The panel notes that venture liquidity from companies like SpaceX and Stripe is positively impacting LP sentiment. They discuss the new growth bar for startups, which has shifted from the traditional 'triple-triple-double-double-double' to a more demanding 5x or 4x, making it harder to raise capital. This forces investment into short-term, easy-revenue companies rather than moat-building ventures. The VCs warn that mega-seeds and king-making rounds destroy startup optionality, predicting many $100M Series A companies will collapse. They also explore the trend of startups moving to open-weight AI models to cut costs and protect data, becoming model-agnostic. The discussion touches on rising anti-AI sentiment and the wealth gap, with a warning against hindering economic gains through poor policy. The panelists advise founders to avoid agentic AI productivity tools that lack network effects, as value shifts to 'acceptance AI'—trusted third-party verification of correctness.