Marc Andreessen

And I think actually one of the original VCs in NVIDIA is, I think, actually still on the board. That's like a great example of one of these long-term builds. Anyway, so there's this core set of beliefs and views and behaviors that we're not changing at all that kind of have to do with that. Another is the face-to-face thing. Like, you have to be face-to-face with these things.

And I think actually one of the original VCs in NVIDIA is, I think, actually still on the board. That's like a great example of one of these long-term builds. Anyway, so there's this core set of beliefs and views and behaviors that we're not changing at all that kind of have to do with that. Another is the face-to-face thing. Like, you have to be face-to-face with these things.

You know, these things are remote. That's the one hand. But on the other hand, you need to be very up to the minute because the technologies change so fast. The business models change so fast. The competitive dynamics change so fast.

You know, these things are remote. That's the one hand. But on the other hand, you need to be very up to the minute because the technologies change so fast. The business models change so fast. The competitive dynamics change so fast.

If anything, the environment's getting more complicated because you've got many countries and now you've got all these political issues, which also make things more complicated. We never really worried about the political system interfering with bringing pressure to bear on the things that we invested in really up until basically about eight years ago.

If anything, the environment's getting more complicated because you've got many countries and now you've got all these political issues, which also make things more complicated. We never really worried about the political system interfering with bringing pressure to bear on the things that we invested in really up until basically about eight years ago.

And then it really intensified about five years ago. But for the preceding 10 years of us as a firm and the preceding 60 years of venture capital, it was never a big deal, but now it is. And so now we need to adapt and we need to be involved in politics in a way that we weren't before.

And then it really intensified about five years ago. But for the preceding 10 years of us as a firm and the preceding 60 years of venture capital, it was never a big deal, but now it is. And so now we need to adapt and we need to be involved in politics in a way that we weren't before.

Or now we need to adapt and we need to figure out maybe AI companies are going to be very fundamentally different. Maybe they're going to be structured in a totally different way. Or to your point, maybe software companies are going to work totally different.

Or now we need to adapt and we need to figure out maybe AI companies are going to be very fundamentally different. Maybe they're going to be structured in a totally different way. Or to your point, maybe software companies are going to work totally different.

I'll give you an example of the question we ask a lot right now, which is like, what does the org chart look like for a company that actually fully uses AI? Is it similar or is it actually very different? And there's no single answer to that, but we're thinking hard about that. So that side of our brain basically says you need to be up to the minute.

I'll give you an example of the question we ask a lot right now, which is like, what does the org chart look like for a company that actually fully uses AI? Is it similar or is it actually very different? And there's no single answer to that, but we're thinking hard about that. So that side of our brain basically says you need to be up to the minute.

You need to be extremely fluid in reacting to new information. And then I think the delicate dance that we do every day is to try to figure out what's timeless and then what's up to the minute. And that's a big part conceptually of how I think about the firm is we need to navigate through that and make sure that we know which is which.

You need to be extremely fluid in reacting to new information. And then I think the delicate dance that we do every day is to try to figure out what's timeless and then what's up to the minute. And that's a big part conceptually of how I think about the firm is we need to navigate through that and make sure that we know which is which.

Yeah, so a couple of things. So one is, I mean, I think the observation makes a lot of sense. The way that people in the business talk about it is basically there's a lot of investment operations that are usually the term is partnership is what you hear, right? A lot of venture firms work like this historically. It's just a partnership.

Yeah, so a couple of things. So one is, I mean, I think the observation makes a lot of sense. The way that people in the business talk about it is basically there's a lot of investment operations that are usually the term is partnership is what you hear, right? A lot of venture firms work like this historically. It's just a partnership.

It's like a small tribe of people sitting in a room together, trying to bounce ideas off of each other. And then they make the investments. By the way, they don't have a balance sheet. It's a private partnership. They pay out the money in the form of compensation at the end of every year. That's a traditional venture capital.

It's like a small tribe of people sitting in a room together, trying to bounce ideas off of each other. And then they make the investments. By the way, they don't have a balance sheet. It's a private partnership. They pay out the money in the form of compensation at the end of every year. That's a traditional venture capital.

A traditional venture capital model with six GPs sitting around a table doing that. They had their assistants. They had a couple of associates. But the point is, like, it's completely based on the people. And by the way, it actually turns out in most cases, what you discover is the people actually don't like each other that much. Mad Men did a good job of this.

A traditional venture capital model with six GPs sitting around a table doing that. They had their assistants. They had a couple of associates. But the point is, like, it's completely based on the people. And by the way, it actually turns out in most cases, what you discover is the people actually don't like each other that much. Mad Men did a good job of this.