E26: Ben Horowitz on AI, the Future of Venture Capital, and Wartime VCs

Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and one of the most influential venture capitalists of the last decade, sits down with Erik for Turpentine VC. They shed light on how Ben thinks about firm-building and where the future is going. We're proudly sponsored by Vanta. Get $1000 off Vanta with https://www.vanta.com/upstream

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RECOMMENDED PODCAST:

Founding a business is just the tip of the iceberg; the real complexity comes with scaling it. On 1 to 1000, hosts Jack Altman and Erik Torenberg dig deep into the inevitable twists and turns operators encounter along the journey of turning an idea into a business. Hear all about the tactical challenges of scaling from the people that built up the world's leading companies like Stripe, Ramp, and Lattice. Our first episode with Eric Glyman of Ramp is out now: https://link.chtbl.com/1to1000

TIMESTAMPS:

(01:00) Episode Preview

(03:55) Ben on what allows the legendary VC firms to be great for multi-decades

(05:05) a16z’s unique product-first, investor-second approach

(06:20) YC as a16z’s closest spiritual analog

(09:40) Ben on why venture firms should stay private

(11:40) How a16z scaled their fund sizes to market opportunities

(12:40) Why a16z chose to go bigger than Benchmark or USV on fund size

(14:20) “Spreadsheet” VCs vs. people-first VCs

(16:00) a16z’s customer-focused strategy

(17:28) The firm’s unique approach to governance

(17:50) Sponsor: Mercury, Vanta

(19:55) Shared economics and centralized control

(21:20) Ben’s view on the future of venture

(24:00) How Ben thinks about riding trends like AI, crypto, etc.

(27:00) a16z’s AI strategy

(32:00) Will a16z expand into multi-asset firms like BlackRock?

(33:00) How a16z thinks about their LPs differently from other firms

(35:28) Sponsor: NetSuite

(38:00) Peacetime vs. Wartime VCs

LINKS:

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

X / TWITTER:

@bhorowitz (Ben)

@eriktorenberg (Erik)

@TurpentineVC