"Longtime VC Venky Ganesan from Menlo Ventures gave the New York Times a quote about the whole thing, saying the Super Bowl in the Bay Area is "tech billionaires who got picked last in gym class paying $50,000 to pretend they're friends with the guys who got picked first." Added Ganesan, "And for the record, I, too, was picked last in gym class.""
"Ganesan could likely afford a $50,000 ticket if he needed one. Menlo went all-in on Anthropic, setting up a $100 million fund with the AI company in summer 2024 to invest in other AI startups. The firm has also joined numerous funding rounds for Anthropic itself, both through its flagship fund and various special purpose vehicles. (Anthropic is reportedly expected to close a $20 billion round of funding next week at a post-money valuation of $350 billion.)"
"Tickets are expensive across the board, averaging almost $7,000 according to the Times (with some last-minute seats still available on StubHub for closer to $3,600, according to a quick glance at the ticket reseller site). Only a quarter go to the general public; the rest are distributed to NFL teams. Of all ticket buyers, the largest group (27%) is coming from Washington State for the Seahawks, who've won just one Super Bowl in franchise history."
The Super Bowl at Levi's Stadium in Silicon Valley will draw numerous tech executives, wealthy investors, and corporate attendees such as YouTube CEO Neal Mohan and Apple CEO Tim Cook. A venture capitalist characterized the event as wealthy tech elites socializing. Menlo Ventures has invested heavily in Anthropic, creating a $100 million fund and participating in multiple funding rounds; Anthropic may close a $20 billion round at a $350 billion post-money valuation. Ticket prices average nearly $7,000, with some last-minute seats near $3,600, and only 25% of tickets go to the general public. Major tech firms including Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, Amazon, and Meta are running competing AI-related ads.
Read at TechCrunch
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