At EUVC Summit 2025, Fred Destin, founder of Stride, didn’t give us a movie, or a polished pitch. He gave us something rarer—an unfiltered meditation on truth, technology, and the role of venture capital in shaping the next 50–100 years. Not Just Capital. Not Just Companies. Fred framed venture not simply as a financial craft, but as something profoundly human: “Since I was a kid, I always thought of progress as being intimately related to human flourishing. In our age, the way in which we create—outside of art—is by helping founders build companies. We are in the cockpit with them, creating the future.” But that future is clouded. Social media, born of “likes” and “shares,” bent the arc of progress into something darker: an attention war. And now, with AI at full speed, the stakes have never been higher. Truth Under Siege Destin warned: truth is costly, outrage is cheap. Investigative journalism may take months, but outrage takes seconds. Algorithms optimized for speed have already shifted the field—and AI could supercharge it. He asked the room to imagine: A future where your AI knows who you dined with, where you’ve been, and what you’ll buy next. A landscape where ambiguity is exploited, narratives collapse, and “heroes” are manufactured. A world where our meditation spaces, even our inner lives, are monetized and optimized. “Narratives are how we hold together—companies, funds, societies. When they collapse, what’s left to unite us?” Stewardship in an Age of Anxiety Fred’s answer wasn’t fear, but stewardship. Stewardship of self: noticing when we’re trapped in attachment, aversion, or ignorance (as Buddhism teaches). Stewardship of conversation: asking what quality of dialogue we are having—with ourselves, with founders, with society. Stewardship of capital: ensuring the companies we back create a future we can stand behind. “Maybe don’t tell your LPs you’re doing this. But be intentional. Back companies that are shaping the future you’d be proud to live in.” The Call to VCs Fred’s message landed as both caution and inspiration: AI can bring abundance—solving crises of climate, soil, nutrition, and health. But it can also bring domination—by nation states, corporations, or worse. Or, if unchecked, extinction. The choice isn’t abstract. It’s in the hands of those who sit “inside the vortex”—founders, investors, and stewards of capital. Leadership That Speaks Truth Fred Destin reminded EUVC Summit 2025 that venture capital isn’t just about returns. It’s about narrative, stewardship, and shaping futures in an age of anxiety. “What are we telling the world? Not what is self-serving. But what is true. What is a contribution.” Congratulations to Fred Destin, Stride, for a Summit Talk that challenged us not just to invest in companies—but to invest in the truth.
