At the StrictlyVC event held in Athens in late May 2026, three leading venture capitalists from Verdict Capital, Threshold Ventures, and Atomico shared candid insights about the hyped AI bubble and the current trend of over-allocating capital to tech startups.
Background
The venture capital market is witnessing a deep divide. According to Niko Bonatsos of Verdict Capital speaking on TechCrunch, about three-quarters of VC capital over the past year has been concentrated in just five major companies. He noted that he has never seen such strong "groupthink" in his 17 years in Silicon Valley. Investors admit that market expectations and optimism are currently far outstripping the short-term ability of AI startups to deliver real results.
Key Developments
This frenzy is leading to several consequences in corporate valuations and tricks to inflate financial metrics. Ben Blume of Atomico noted that many companies are defining annual recurring revenue (ARR) very vaguely through new pricing models, such as charging per token or counting free tokens as revenue. Additionally, the trend of hunting for extremely young founders is peaking. According to TechCrunch, investors joke that if you are a 22-year-old in San Francisco building something with AI, your inbox likely already has a seed term sheet waiting.
Why It Matters
Despite skepticism about a financial bubble, experts still believe the technological shift is real. AI tools are significantly optimizing productivity, allowing two founders to achieve progress in two months that would have previously taken a team of ten a whole year. For developers and startups in Vietnam, the biggest takeaway is not to chase short-term hype, but to focus on areas of genuine potential, such as the intersection of AI and the physical world through robotics, or new consumer fintech applications.