About a year into the downturn, the VC-backed universe looks relatively unscathed. In recent weeks, VCs have been getting louder and more candid about the impending reckoning. Chris Shoff, a Technology partner, said to PitchBook that he is starting to hear VCs telling their portfolio companies that they don't plan to invest more capital even if it comes to a pay-to-play situation, a deal in which non-participating investors lose their preferred shares.