Andreessen Horowitz

Macroeconomics and Politics
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Andreessen Horowitz is the world largest VC fund and their crypto fund is one of the largest if not the largest in the industry.
They have a very strong investment track record and are one of the most prestigious investors to raise money from.
They have a podcast which I don’t know well yet but I think likely offers interesting industry, political and general startup building insights.

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In a move which was surprising to me the founders of Andreessen Horowitz, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz clearly positioned themselves in favor of Trump and apparently plan to donate significant amounts to the Trump campaign. Previously they have donated bi-partisan and esp. Andreessen has been a lifelong democrat supporter.

I watched the full podcast here are my notes:

  • 6:30 min democrats used to be pro business and pro tech but they started to be more hostile since the early 2010.
  • Min 29: Biden administration has been attacking crypto by refusing to give guidance and agency suing crypto startups.
  • min 46: A presidential order signed by Biden that limits how much Tflops can be used to train an Ai model does not make sense in their opinion because it causes the U.S to fall back against China, protects large companies and is not in line with the speed of progress which will enable more companies to build foundational ai models in the future.
  • 1h:03min They cite more examples of harassment by authorities in fintech or biotech and say the defensive industry for startups is fundamentally broken.
  • 1h:14min Apparently there is a proposed annual tax on unrealized gains of 25% by Biden. This is a large problem for Founders and VCs because taxes needs to be payed on theoretical valuations without the Founders or VCs actually having the money. (I think this is their main point why they support Trump)
  • 1h:24min They say they are forced to pick a side because radical democrats are in control of agencies under Biden. (The sentiment of having to pick a side reminds on what Dalio said)

Assessment
From my assessment the two founders have a high degree of credibility and I believe their representation of facts to be true esp. since it is in line with everything I heard so far.
Overall this shows how the country which includes the democrats are increasingly polarizing.

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Update: I think the appointment of Vance might also play a role in their support of Trump.
They specifically talk about “little tech” in their podcast and would likely support a crackdown on “big tech” which would make it easier for their portfolio companies to compete.

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