E1: Ben Horowitz on What Traditional VC Gets Wrong

Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and one of the most influential venture capitalists of the last decade, joins Erik for the inaugural episode of Turpentine VC. They shed light on how Ben thinks about the business of building a16z and where the firm — and the future — is going. If you’re looking to make fund administration easy and intuitive, check out: http://carta.com/turpentine  

RELATED SHOWS: If you like Turpentine VC, check out our show The Limited Partner with David Weisburd, where David talks to the investors behind the investors: https://www.podpage.com/the-limited-partner/

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Episode Preview

(02:25) Ben on what allows the legendary VC firms to be great for multi-decades

(03:37) a16z’s unique product-first, investor-second approach

(04:34) YC as a16z’s closest spiritual analog

(06:20) The strategy behind how Ben and Marc set up their firm structure

(08:12) Ben on why venture firms should stay private

(09:32) How a16z scaled their fund sizes to market opportunities

(10:54) Why a16z chose to go bigger than Benchmark or USV on fund size

(12:47) “Spreadsheet” VCs vs. people-first VCs

(14:34) a16z’s customer-focused strategy

(15:58) The firm’s unique approach to governance

(16:22) Sponsor: Carta

(16:57) Shared economics and centralized control

(18:29) Ben’s view on the future of venture

(21:44) How Ben thinks about riding trends like AI, crypto, etc.

(24:04) a16z’s AI strategy

(29:13) Will a16z expand into multi-asset firms like BlackRock?

(30:38) How a16z thinks about their LPs differently from other firms

(32:38) Sponsors: Synaptic and Pesto Tech

(34:06) Ben on how macro informs a16z’s strategy

(35:33) Peacetime vs. Wartime VCs

(40:11) What Ben wants to see next in tech media

(44:04) Sponsor: Carta

LINKS:

Why Software Is Eating the World: https://a16z.com/2011/08/20/why-software-is-eating-the-world/

X / TWITTER:

@bhorowitz (Ben)

@eriktorenberg (Erik)

@TurpentineVC

SPONSORS:

Carta is the world’s largest venture fund administrator. Carta’s software-based approach takes fund administration out of the spreadsheet and into 2023 and beyond with powerful solutions and intuitive interfaces, all on one platform. Their suite of products and expert services help funds at any stage with up-to-date insights and automated workflows to get them to that next level. Learn more at: carta.com/turpentine

Synaptic unifies over one hundred real-time company performance metrics across alternative datasets like user traffic, employee data, app downloads, product reviews, and more. It’s your all-in-one source for alternative data that helps you make better investment decisions. To learn how Synaptic can improve your sourcing, tracking, and due diligence, visit synaptic.com/turpentine

Pesto Tech is a hiring marketplace that makes finding great remote developers fast and easy. They use large language models to evaluate developers along dozens of parameters, including code quality, performance, and security. If you need to start hiring developers fast, all you have to do is answer 5 simple questions on their website: pesto.tech