Andreessen Horowitz says “we will, for the first time, get involved with politics by supporting candidates who align with our vision and values” for technology
As software has eaten the world, it has become integral to every industry and nearly every endeavor in our society.
Andreessen HorowitzBen Horowitz
Context & Ripple Effects
Andreessen Horowitz is moving from technology investing into explicit candidate support, arguing that technology’s reach makes public policy central to its investment environment. The decision turns the firm’s stated technology values into a political criterion.
Andreessen Horowitz can now direct political support toward candidates it judges aligned with its technology agenda, making advocacy a formal part of the firm’s public posture.
Portfolio companies and founders gain a clearer signal that the firm may pursue policy influence alongside capital and operational support.
Second-order effects
The announcement creates pressure on other venture firms and startup coalitions to decide whether to remain issue-focused or organize around candidates as policy debates affect their sectors.
If more investors adopt this model, venture capital’s role could shift from financing companies within a policy framework to helping shape the electoral choices that determine that framework.
The pattern would deepen the link between concentrated technology capital and state policy, though its durability depends on whether firms can sustain political engagement without alienating founders, investors, or customers.
The trend: This is an early marker of venture capital treating electoral politics as a strategic lever for technology policy, rather than a separate civic arena.
“Decentralized technologies from the blockchain/crypto/web3 ecosystem will create a fairer, more inclusive economy than the centralized, monopoly-enabling technologies of web 2 and the industrial-era financial system.” - Andreessen Horowitz
A16Z will give literally any politician money if they help deregulate tech | TechCrunch — https://techcrunch.com/... > Venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz has announced its intent to begin lobbying the US government, and their plan is as tone-deaf and obtuse as this — …
In the 2 years since @KTmBoyle and I launched the American Dynamism practice it's been clear that builders of advancing technology need a stronger voice in policy matters. Now they will have it. Read more in “Politics and the Future” from @bhorowitz https://a16z.com/...
Hard to argue with the premise that technology is increasingly important, and by extension the legislations and regulations governing it are too. I think a huge part of this is simply educating candidates and electeds on how emerging technologies work (see: @drfeifei's AI...
“While “Big Tech” is well represented in Washington D.C., their interests are often at odds with a positive technological future as they are more interested in regulatory capture and preserving their monopolies. As a result, technology startups need a voice. We are non-partisan,.…
The technology industry should be the most powerful political coalition in the history of man. Instead, our engagement with government largely consists of eg Facebook getting fined a billion less by the EU.
This from @bhorowitz is worth reading. Spending more time in policy this past year I'm struck by how much tech needs more people fighting for startups. https://a16z.com/...
“We are non-partisan, one issue voters: If a candidate supports an optimistic technology-enabled future, we are for them.” So.. what if they want to tear apart the very fabric of our democracy?
Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen haven't done much political giving as of late. Marc specifically has bowed out after Trump, feeling that he didn't know much about GOP politics and wanted to reassess. Now, a statement of principles and a pledge for action. “Every penny we...
We must choose leaders with policies that embrace and encourage progress, innovation and the future: “America's best days are ahead if we retain our global technology leadership. The primary thing that can undermine that is misguided regulatory policy.”
This is great: https://a16z.com/... DC paints “tech” with a broad brush, but Big-Tech is not on the side of disruption. @8VC fights to keep innovation legal and welcomes allies of “small tech” builders; let's make sure DC cronies don't break the future! @bHorowitz @pMarca
The techno barons want to influence politics so they get their own way. It's all coming true before our eyes and we're just sitting back, watching it roll over us without a word. @bronwynwilliams
Have thought for a while that VCs are the right group to do something like this. The most well-resourced group whose incentives are aligned with innovation broadly and against regulatory capture broadly.
“We are non-partisan, one issue voters: If a candidate supports an optimistic technology-enabled future, we are for them. If they want to choke off important technologies, we are against them.” wonder how this will work in practice