- Benchmark partners acknowledged at the TechCrunch Disrupt event that the long-standing practice of venture capital not investing in two directly competing companies is wavering because of the AI boom.
- According to the source, AI coding agent company Factory fired a board observer after saying that person discussed a move with Cognition, a direct competitor (maker of the Devin coding agent). This is the claim of Factory's CEO. The person has already resigned and denied sharing confidential information.
- Benchmark's Eric Vishria said that because companies are changing quickly, conflicts between investment firms are unavoidable in the current climate. Peter Fenton stressed that when conflicts arise, they should not come out as surprises after the fact, and that transparency is the principle.
- The source does not say that Benchmark has officially abandoned this practice. The report summarizes remarks made by individual partners at the event, and no official company policy document has been confirmed.
O: A founder reviewing investment terms who has received an investment proposal may want to add to the question list a check on how far the investor discloses competing investments or portfolio conflicts.
X: The source article reports remarks made by benchmark partners at an event, and it should be noted that no official company policy or contract terms have been confirmed.