In defense of a down year at JPM
To the extent that there’s an overarching narrative at JPM this year, it’s that there’s no overarching narrative at JPM this year. Hoped-for deals didn’t materialize, voluble VCs stayed home, and everyone gradually accepted that this would not be a conference about which to write home.
But maybe that’s a good thing.
“It feels flat because there’s no drama, and we love drama,” said Abbie Celniker, a partner at Third Rock Ventures who has been attending JPM since the late 1990s. “But this would have been completely normal 10 years ago.” The flatness, however irksome to stockpickers, means people like Celniker can get more actual work done. With smaller crowds and fewer headlines, getting around is “less draining,” she said, and “the quality of conversations is a little bit better.”
For Xencor CEO Bassil Dahiyat, attending his 22nd JPM, this year’s minor-key conference has proved “a little bit less distracting, a little bit less fraught.” And it’s served as a reminder of why the whole thing was invented in the first place.
But maybe that’s a good thing.
“It feels flat because there’s no drama, and we love drama,” said Abbie Celniker, a partner at Third Rock Ventures who has been attending JPM since the late 1990s. “But this would have been completely normal 10 years ago.” The flatness, however irksome to stockpickers, means people like Celniker can get more actual work done. With smaller crowds and fewer headlines, getting around is “less draining,” she said, and “the quality of conversations is a little bit better.”
For Xencor CEO Bassil Dahiyat, attending his 22nd JPM, this year’s minor-key conference has proved “a little bit less distracting, a little bit less fraught.” And it’s served as a reminder of why the whole thing was invented in the first place.
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