Dec 9, 2020 - Economy

Upfront Ventures: Pandemic has made many startups stronger

Orion Rummler

Axios' Dan Primack and Kara Nortman — Axios' Dan Primack (left) and Kara Nortman, managing partner, Upfront Ventures. Photo: Axios

Venture capitalists are working in "one of the hottest markets I think any of us have ever operated in our lifetime," Kara Nortman, managing partner at Los Angeles-based Upfront Ventures, said on Wednesday during an Axios virtual event.

The big picture: The industry expected a major slowdown in deal-making at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, but reality did not meet the dismal expectations.

Airbnb filing for a long-awaited IPO during a year of restricted travel and quarantines was "one of the bigger surprises, she added, "because we thought no one would be traveling."

"And it turns out what happened to Airbnb is really indicative of, I think, what happened to a lot of companies, which is a lot of companies that thought they would be impacted negatively, [but] actually became more efficient and really looked at how they're operating," she said.

What they're saying: "I think the big miscalculation was that everybody was going to be affected in the same way by this," Nortman said. "All industries, all people."

One level deeper: On whether America’s entrepreneurial power dispersing beyond Silicon Valley is bad news for Los Angeles, Nortman said: "I think it's about people making deliberate choices about where they want to start and found their next company and set up headquarters."

"That is not slowing down. I've only seen it speed up."

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Upfront Ventures: Pandemic has made many startups stronger

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