Marc Andreessen

You know, my business partner, Ben, my longtime partner, Ben's father, David Horowitz, who's now a radical, you know, right-wing political activist in the 60s and 70s, was a radical left-wing political activist.

You know, my business partner, Ben, my longtime partner, Ben's father, David Horowitz, who's now a radical, you know, right-wing political activist in the 60s and 70s, was a radical left-wing political activist.

Yeah, but he was like literally on campus when anti-Vietnam War was starting to crank up. And so like that was all happening at the same time that Silicon Valley started to boot up and there was lots of back and forth between that.

Yeah, but he was like literally on campus when anti-Vietnam War was starting to crank up. And so like that was all happening at the same time that Silicon Valley started to boot up and there was lots of back and forth between that.

Then the other side was more of the Bob Noyce side of things, you know, that I alluded to, which is you have these like literally Midwestern farm boys showing up who were squares, not hippies.

Then the other side was more of the Bob Noyce side of things, you know, that I alluded to, which is you have these like literally Midwestern farm boys showing up who were squares, not hippies.

very much square, you know, and if you look at like old photos of like the Intel team when they were young, it's literally, you know, short-sleeved white shirts with ties and tie clips and, you know, they look like the Michael Douglas character from Falling Down. You know, they look like defense contractors. And what the Valley did, to its credit, was it fused those mentalities.

very much square, you know, and if you look at like old photos of like the Intel team when they were young, it's literally, you know, short-sleeved white shirts with ties and tie clips and, you know, they look like the Michael Douglas character from Falling Down. You know, they look like defense contractors. And what the Valley did, to its credit, was it fused those mentalities.

And the fusion most specifically showed up in the form ultimately of Steve Jobs. He had all of the accoutrements and all of the artistic judgment. And he had famously done LSD and he had all these alternative, you know, beliefs. He had been to India. But he was also, as we know, like a ruthlessly competitive industrialist. And so, you know, he kind of fused both sides of that.

And the fusion most specifically showed up in the form ultimately of Steve Jobs. He had all of the accoutrements and all of the artistic judgment. And he had famously done LSD and he had all these alternative, you know, beliefs. He had been to India. But he was also, as we know, like a ruthlessly competitive industrialist. And so, you know, he kind of fused both sides of that.

And that fusion has been where a lot of the magic is. That naturally brings in both left and right wing politics. And then that definitely takes us to the dynamic that's happening today.

And that fusion has been where a lot of the magic is. That naturally brings in both left and right wing politics. And then that definitely takes us to the dynamic that's happening today.

Yeah, so the breakdown was during the second Obama term, and it took me by surprise. I think maybe the one person that didn't take my surprise is, you know, our mutual friend, Peter Thiel. You know, he, as with a lot of things, I think saw it coming earlier than I did, but it definitely took me by surprise.

Yeah, so the breakdown was during the second Obama term, and it took me by surprise. I think maybe the one person that didn't take my surprise is, you know, our mutual friend, Peter Thiel. You know, he, as with a lot of things, I think saw it coming earlier than I did, but it definitely took me by surprise.

And, you know, just to give full context there, like I had met Obama in, I think, 06 or 07 when he was a new senator. And, you know, he seemed great. It's just like, it's the perfect package. It's literally everything that you could possibly dream for in a president. He has all the right social views. And he seems like an inheritor of the Clinton gore.

And, you know, just to give full context there, like I had met Obama in, I think, 06 or 07 when he was a new senator. And, you know, he seemed great. It's just like, it's the perfect package. It's literally everything that you could possibly dream for in a president. He has all the right social views. And he seems like an inheritor of the Clinton gore.

You know, he says all the right things about capitalism at the time and about entrepreneurship. He's clearly in love with tech. You may recall the 2012 election was literally the story of social media saves democracy. Like, it was literally that Barack Obama, the good guy, uses advanced technology, including the internet and social media, to save the country from the Nazi fascist Mitt Romney.

You know, he says all the right things about capitalism at the time and about entrepreneurship. He's clearly in love with tech. You may recall the 2012 election was literally the story of social media saves democracy. Like, it was literally that Barack Obama, the good guy, uses advanced technology, including the internet and social media, to save the country from the Nazi fascist Mitt Romney.

And this was like wall-to-wall positive press coverage. This was also, by the way, in the wake of the Arab Spring, which at the time, you'll recall, was like an unalloyed good. Like, obviously, all these countries are going to be much better off.

And this was like wall-to-wall positive press coverage. This was also, by the way, in the wake of the Arab Spring, which at the time, you'll recall, was like an unalloyed good. Like, obviously, all these countries are going to be much better off.