This tech policy panel at Georgetown’s 2025 Venture in the Capital Conference was moderated by Jorge Guajardo Sada (SFS’26). Panelists were Don Vieira of Sequoia, former Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty of MaC Venture Capital, Luther Lowe of Y Combinator, Geoffrey Okamoto of Goldman Sachs and Victoria Virasingh of NobleReach.
The panel discussed why venture firms and accelerators now take policy positions, with Lowe describing Y Combinator’s push to give “little tech” a voice in Washington and Fenty explaining how his years in city government help him evaluate and support startups. Panelists urged Congress to approach AI with an open mind, noting that many uses of AI are already covered by existing law. They also discussed how to help startups cross the “valley of death” into government contracts, and Fenty argued that government should focus on management and on one measure that matters: results.