Inside the elite startup retreat where Satya Nadella and Condoleezza Rice just spent their weekend

Molly DeCoudreaux Photography

Last weekend, many of the tech industry's bigshots gathered in the Santa Cruz mountains to talk startups. 

Venture capital firm Sequoia invited more than 100 startup founders, CEOs, and alumni for what it calls "Base Camp."

During the two day event, founders and CEOs spent their days talking business and their nights sleeping in tents.  

Here's what it's like inside the elite camp for startup founders: 

More than 100 startup founders and business executives came to the Santa Cruz mountains for Base Camp.

Some founders and VCs even mountain biked to Base Camp for the weekend's festivities.

Flags flew over the camp representing what Sequoia looks for in founders: "The creative spirits. The underdogs. The resolute. The determined. The outsiders. The defiant. The independent thinkers. The fighters and the true believers." For the two-day weekend, founders were split into groups based on each ethos.