Q: Will you fund multiple startups working on the same idea?
A Yes. If you fund as many companies as we do it's unavoidable you'll end up with some overlap. Even if you tried not to accept competing companies, you'd still get overlap because startups' ideas morph so much. The way we deal with it is that when two startups are working on related stuff, we don't talk to one about what the other's doing.
In practice it has not turned out to be a problem, because most big markets have room for several slightly different solutions, and it's unlikely that two startups would do precisely the same thing."
Your guess is as good as anyone else's, unless you or your friend is present at the event — large VCs / companies (a16z/FB) are less likely to send senior folks; on the other hand, smaller firms like Wanelo or Felicis Ventures could have founder / partner.
One unique thing about investment banks' conferences is they preserve 1-on-1 meeting rooms to connect startup founders to corp dev or investors. Ultimate purpose from Goldman is to seek out the next big M&A / IPO deals and be at the forefront to lead them.
See here: http://ycombinator.com/faq.html
Direct quotes from the above
Q: Will you fund multiple startups working on the same idea?
A Yes. If you fund as many companies as we do it's unavoidable you'll end up with some overlap. Even if you tried not to accept competing companies, you'd still get overlap because startups' ideas morph so much. The way we deal with it is that when two startups are working on related stuff, we don't talk to one about what the other's doing.
In practice it has not turned out to be a problem, because most big markets have room for several slightly different solutions, and it's unlikely that two startups would do precisely the same thing."