Live, in-person pitch events used to be a regular part of the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem, until Covid-19 shut down the party and forced entrepreneurs to go virtual with their presentations to potential investors.
But on Tuesday night, one of the region's most active pitch hubs, the Silicon Valley Forum, returned to a live event for the first time since the pandemic began. About 30 attendees converged at Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale to participate in the Forum's Austrian pitch night, which though small still exceeded organizers' expectations.
"We anticipated maybe 25 people coming tonight... a lot of people are still hesitant," said Denyse Cardozo, executive director of Silicon Valley Forum. "This is the last in-person event that we'll do for 2021."
The 38-year-old organization used to hold such pitch nights once a month, which Cardozo said were often standing-room only. The forum, which helps introduce startups to the Silicon Valley tech ecosystem, held Tuesday night's event as a sort of test run for larger events that it hopes to hold in the second quarter of 2022.
The pitch night was dedicated to six Austrian startups, all of whose founders had to be vaccinated in order to attend, according to Michelle Messina, who helped coach the entrepreneurs and prepare their presentations. Messina said one of the startups that was going to participate was disqualified because the founder refused to be vaccinated.
"This feels weird, but it feels kind of back to normal," Messina said of getting to talk to people face-to-face again. "On the other hand, how are we going to network effectively if there's only 25 people here instead of 250 people?"
The majority of people at the event were unmasked, though people were required to present either a vaccination card or a negative Covid-19 test at the entrance. Food and drinks were served, and the majority of attendees networked indoors.
Mark Robichek said he likes to attend both Silicon Valley Forum and Plug and Play events, to potentially purchase products that are being pitched. He said he felt safe knowing that most of the attendees were vaccinated.
"Just to be out live again is such a wonderful feeling," Robicheck said. "As long as venues are happy to check and verify peoples' vaccination status, I think the risk is very low."
Rohan Karunaratne, a high school student from Hayward, said he wanted to attend the event to get a feel for the Silicon Valley landscape. He said he had mixed feelings about the return to in-person events.
"Still, psychologically, you're a little set in your Covid ways," Karunaratne said. "Coming out to an in-person event and feeling the atmosphere, it's definitely exciting to return to that landscape and start seeing the valley return to normal again."
It may not be possible to go fully back to the way things were, given peoples' experience with the pandemic, Cardozo said. Hybrid events and hybrid work models may be the way of the future.
"The pandemic has had an adverse effect on mental health, including anxiety, making it impossible for some to get out and interact with crowds of people," Cardozo said. "I think hybrid events will be the staple for large-scale conferences, giving folks the opportunity to meet in person, or watch the program from the comfort of their own home."
