Come on, the success of events of such nature cannot be measured by the presence or the absence of the VCs. Let me ask the question how many firms come into existence every year and how many get funded by VCs? I think the figure should be less than 0.1%. Prof Amar Bhide found out that close to 80% of Inc 500 companies did not have a business plan. Would companies without business plans get VC funding? No way but still they have demonstrated that it is possible to succeed without VC funding by bootstrapping their ventures. So if maximum entrepreneurship actually happens outside the VCs, should the presence of VCs be taken as a barometer for success? While VCs do play some role in success of some firms, they are certainly not the only way to success. The goal of such events is not to get the VCs but to and get people with entrepreneurial intent onto one platform and hope some of these would tip over and actually start their ventures.