Story · VC·
Even Benchmark thinks AI is eroding the venture pact against backing rivals
At TechCrunch Disrupt, Benchmark partners Eric Vishria, Chetan Puttagunta and Peter Fenton said the unwritten VC rule against backing head-on rivals is under strain as AI startups expand into overlapping markets. Vishria said portfolio conflicts are inevitable as companies evolve quickly; Puttagunta tied the trend to software build costs falling toward zero and founders claiming more surface area. Fenton called conflict management the firm's toughest problem and stressed transparency so founders are not surprised. The piece also cites shared OpenAI and Anthropic investors and the Factory-Cognition dispute involving Khosla Ventures.
Early-stage VCs are openly rewriting how they handle competitive overlap inside AI portfolios.
Source
TechCrunch · techcrunch.com · Found in the news · source checked Oct 16, 2026
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