Discussion

• @elizspiers Elizabeth Spiers on threads

  Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz to every woman, LGBTQ+ person and immigrant who works in tech: you're disposable if doing this makes us even more money

• @coloradotravis @coloradotravis on threads

  Incredibly disingenuous take coming from a16z.  You simply cannot say this support is only about a pro-tech agenda unless you are very stupid and lack the ability to do even rudimentary systems thinking.  Horrible look for an increasingly tarnished brand.

• @gwestr Greg Wester on threads

  bailing out Chris Dixon's fund.  Sad!

• @crumbler Casey Newton on threads

  I wrote about the growing political influence of pro-Trump e/accs, who are eager to overturn Biden's executive order on AI and relegate AI safety concerns to the sidelines https://www.platformer.news/ ...

• @kelseytuoc Kelsey Piper on x

  I think “there was a deal and it has broken down” is an incredibly powerful and pervasive sentiment in tech, not just among Trump supporters but among committed and sincere liberals too.

• @kelseytuoc Kelsey Piper on x

  What was the deal? Hard to pin down exactly but something like - we will build ambitious things and pay high taxes and donate lots of money and mostly not play politics and you will treat us as valued pillars of our community, make our cities livable, stay mostly out of the way.

• @kelseytuoc Kelsey Piper on x

  The abrupt tilt towards intensely negative coverage of tech felt like a breakdown of the deal. The attacks on tech shuttle buses? Breakdown of the deal. The state of San Francisco? Breakdown of the deal.

• @kelseytuoc Kelsey Piper on x

  Like all narratives this one captures some things and misses others. And I don't think that putting corrupt right wing nativists in power solves the justified anger here. But there is justified anger here. California politicians have egregiously failed their constituents.

• @pmarca Marc Andreessen on x

  New podcast, @bhorowitz and me, 90 minutes on the Little Tech Agenda, the future of tech in America, politics, Biden and Trump. 🇺🇸 [video]

• @tsarnick @tsarnick on x

  Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz say they met with Donald Trump and his platform on artificial intelligence is to use AI to support development rooted in free speech and human flourishing [video]

• @danprimack Dan Primack on x

  Bunch of people have asked about the unrealized capital gains thing. It's not quite as black/white as Marc makes it sound, although still onerous. Those holding mostly illiquid stock can get deferrals. More detail here on pg. 83: https://home.treasury.gov/...

• @alexiskold Alex Iskold on x

  I have so much respect for @bhorowitz and @pmarca and listened very carefully to their podcast endorsing Trump. This in my opinion is a big mistake and not because they are endorsing him but why they are doing it. 1/2 of the podcast is a crypto retaliation talk that Biden

• @danprimack Dan Primack on x

  Watched the @pmarca & @bhorowitz Trump “endorsement” (sorta) video.  Some thoughts.  1/ Biggest arguments were that they believe Biden admin is hostile to crypto and making a major mistake in its AI regulation.  They believe Trump is pro-crypto (despite his record while in office…

• @dpinsen David Pinsen on x

  This is extraordinary. The Biden admin has drifted so far left that Ben Horowitz, the grandson of communists, just compared their policies to those of Soviets persecuting the kulaks. What a colossal fuck up by the Democrats to lose Silicon Valley.

• @prestonjbyrne Preston Byrne on x

  Noticing there's not a parade of A16Z employees writing cringe “I quit” posts because the bosses are backing Trump in the election. @pmarca hires well

• @carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x

  Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz have listed the reasons they are supporting Trump over Biden 1. Biden wants to “over regulate” AI which means America will lose the AI race to China. 2. Trump supports crypto. 3 The final straw is taxing of unrealized capital gains. [image]

• @kateclarktweets Kate Clark on x

  Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz explain why they're endorsing Trump in a new podcast. Horowitz starts off by apologizing to his mom: “I know you're going to be mad at me for this but we had to do it.” “The future of our business, the future of technology and the future of

• @aphysicist Aaron Slodov on x

  if monopolies are bad because they stop innovating, is there a corollary to nations being monopolies? is this how we got to 'where's my flying car'? the next frontier is so painfully and obviously the speed of innovation in the physical world.

• @davidsacks David Sacks on x

  Ben Horowitz Bill Ackman Cameron Winklevoss Doug Leone Elon Musk Eoghan McCabe Ken Howery Kyle Samani Marc Andreessen Jacob Helberg Joe Lonsdale Palmer Luckey Peter Thiel Shaun Maguire Trevor Traina Tushar Jain Tyler Winklevoss Come on in, the water's warm. [image]

• @ericjackson Eric Jackson on x

  I'm just thinking of all the terrible tax/communist ideas Biden has had: - taxing unrealized gains - anti-crypto - price fixing - raising corp tax rate to 28% - student loan forgiveness How do you run and win in America with that platform?

• @ktmboyle Katherine Boyle on x

  Proud to work at a firm that can have important and difficult conversations about the future of American technology and startups— and why it's so essential to protect it. 🇺🇸

• @pmarca Marc Andreessen on x

  New podcast, @bhorowitz and me, 90 minutes on the Little Tech Agenda, the future of tech in America, politics, Biden and Trump. 🇺🇸 00:49 Intro to Little Tech Agenda and presidential election impact 03:33 Involvement in presidential politics 11:24 Importance of Little Tech 24:01 […

• @spiritofpines @spiritofpines on x

  Wild how the accounts that post only about business and conspicuously ignore major political and cultural events can't confront the fact that their heroes like Elon and Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz are all endorsing Trump at great personal and financial risk.

• @jessesingal Jesse Singal on x

  Setting aside my own very negative views of Trump, the utter failure of the attempts to stigmatize him... it just feels like something has really been breached on that front and all sorts of mainstream folks, from Haley to Andreessen, don't care anymore https://www.nytimes.com/..…

• @shonaghosh Shona Ghosh on x

  This is such a cultural difference between the US and UK/Europe. VCs here express political views but with uh, minimal impact. https://www.bloomberg.com/...

• @mattzeitlin Matthew Zeitlin on x

  haven't listened to the whole thing but one interesting thing they talk about is that one signpost for alienation from the democratic party was when there was criticism of large scale philanthropic giving by tech executives, specifically the chan-zuckerberg initiative

• @pmarca Marc Andreessen on x

  References mentioned in podcast: Proposal to tax unrealized capital gains: https://home.treasury.gov/... Trump 2024 platform: https://www.documentcloud.org/ ... Little Tech Agenda: https://a16z.com/...

• @elonmusk Elon Musk on x

  Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz explain why they support Trump

• @billhughesdc @billhughesdc on x

  This brief exchange between @pmarca and @bhorowitz captures how so many life long Democrats feel about the Biden Administration's patent hostility to the crypto industry. The assault on innovation is unprecedented and shocking. No collaboration to address obvious problems - [vide…

• @garymarcus Gary Marcus on x

  Prediction: @a16z's meddling will backfire massively. US will have worst-regulated AI industry in the world, something bad will happen (e.g., unprecedented cyberattack, or election clearly influenced by deepfake) and public sentiment towards AI will turn sharply negative. In the

• @carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x

  Marc Andreessen argues that tech, the economy and the military are what makes America the most successful country in the world. As the Biden administration is attacking tech, Andreessen & Ben Horowitz will vote for and support Trump. https://techcrunch.com/...

• @a16z @a16z on x

  When it comes to politics, @pmarca and @bhorowitz have placed their support on both sides of the aisle, and have publicly supported candidates including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. In the latest “Ben & Marc Show,” they share why this time is different. In a 90-minute [video…

• @johnkonrad @johnkonrad on x

  The policies of this administration “just don't hang together unless you flat out hate capitalism” @pmarca I've followed marc for well over 20 years and wow. Wow. Watch the body language too. They clearly aren't comfortable saying this but feel the truth is necessary

• @bennjordan Benn Jordan on x

  Notable brands where your money or affiliation will indirectly support and fund Donald Trump's campaign: -Figma - IFTTT - Medium - OpenAI - Substack - Stripe - Udio - United Masters - Waymo https://www.cnbc.com/...

• @anildash Anil Dash on threads

  Ben Horowitz has a Black trans child, if you want to know the level of venality involved in these kinds of decisions. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...

• @yannlecun Yann LeCun on threads

  Where did you get that “a16z rails against Facebook”?  Marc Andreessen is on the board of Meta and is a huge supporter of Meta's open source stance.

• @benedictevans Benedict Evans on threads

  I don't see that.  A16z (and most other VCs) is very supportive of Meta's open source AI push and opposed to the doomer idea we should limit AI research to a small number of big companies - which would shut out the startups it invests in.  And of course Marc is on the board of Me…

• @technicallymims Christopher Mims on threads

  Notable how this lines up with a16z railing against Facebook, Musk sparring with Zuckerberg, Trump threatening Zuckerberg with jail time

• @gk_ventures Greg Kahn on threads

  Interesting from @axios re: JD Vance “Vance belongs to the group of conservatives who are sympathetic to the idea that Big Tech companies should be broken up.”  How will this affect AI developments?

• @technicallymims Christopher Mims on threads

  They regularly say Facebook is the enemy when talking about blockchain

• @benedictevans Benedict Evans on threads

  I believe that was a badly written attempt to criticise the use of ‘trust and safety’ to take down any unpopular opinion, such as things like Facebook banning mentions of a lab leak theory.  But I think you talk to Mark more often than I've ever spoken to Marc ;)

• @benedictevans Benedict Evans on threads

  That's about ‘platform owners’ versus web3 as a new distribution model - YouTube and Apple as much as Meta.

• @moskov Dustin Moskovitz on threads

  How do you reconcile Marc attacking “trust and safety” teams by name?

• @carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on threads

  It's remarkable how much the politics of Silicon Valley has changed in recent years.  Or is it more that Silicon Valley has revealed it's true political leanings instead of the romanticized version of prior years?

• @bretcarmichael@mastodon.social Bret Carmichael on mastodon

  Adding to Elon #Musk's $45 million-per-month donation to a Trump Super PAC, a16z tech multi-billionaires from #a16z investing in Donald #Trump's presidential campaign.  Here, their motivation is the deregulation of tech and #crypto.  Think of it as #a16z investing in their own fu…

• @qkslvrwolf@mastodon.social @qkslvrwolf@mastodon.social on mastodon

  @Techmeme ye gods l hate them so much

• @thefaj@mastodon.social Alex Fajkowski on mastodon

  Some advice for senior developers: encourage any younger developers and designers you meet to understand where Venture Capital funding in their company comes from.  —  Marc Andreeson and Ben Horowitz (Andreeson Horowitz, aka a16z) fund a LOT of startups and are actively working t…

• @kateclarktweets Kate Clark on x

  Scoop: Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, who run the influential venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, have told staff they plan to make large donations to political action committees supporting the election of Donald Trump. w/ @coryweinberg https://www.theinformation.com/ ..…

• @danprimack Dan Primack on x

  We reported earlier that @pmarca and @bhorowitz would explain their Trump support this afternoon. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/...

• @kellblog Dave Kellogg on x

  I'm old enough to remember when VCs stayed out of politics because they wanted to have the entire deal pool open to them. The focus was on building things people want to buy and helping entrepreneurs build companies. Period. What's the old Ries & Trout-ism? Success leads to

• @jason_kint Jason Kint on x

  Always suggest press not just link to tech's PR. eg this is a Meta board member using “little tech” to justify endorsing Trump. He also had his deposition ordered after inspection of Facebook's board docs in active insider trading suit. Biden's CofS ran FB audit cmte at time. 1/3

• @obrien Chris O'Brien on x

  @danprimack ... They need climate rules smashed so AI can run free and no oversight of M&A so they can get some liquidity. If women, minorities, and democracy get thrown under the bus...oh well!

• @danprimack Dan Primack on x

  Confirmed earlier report by @theinformation that @pmarca and @bhorowitz will donate to Trump. Some more notes, per sources: 1/ They'll lay out their reasoning later today via a podcast. 2/ This is exclusively about the “pro tech” agenda they discussed late last year — with no

• @anildash @anildash on x

  Ben Horowitz agrees with, and funds, the Project 2025 plan to target his Black trans child. That's all you need to know about the level of depravity in the fascist agenda. Is it “pro tech” to give money to those who want your child dead?

• @grapesmoker @grapesmoker on x

  siri, please show me the least surprising development of the last decade

• @basedtorba Andrew Torba on x

  This is what the Vance pick was about btw.  It wasn't about swing state votes or appealing to X, Y, Z. The Trump campaign needs cash, a lot of it, and Vance's VC connections are going to bring it.  Notice the timing of Elon putting his money where his mouth was on Trump.  Not a c…

• @jimstewartson @jimstewartson on x

  We are, and I mean this literally, in a war against oligarchs who want to dismantle the United States so they can divide up our labor and resources. Democracy is inconvenient for them.

• @kateclarktweets Kate Clark on x

  Andreessen on X earlier this month said that the firm would support political candidates who promote policies in favor of startups.  Horowitz wrote on a blog post in December: “We are non-partisan, one issue voters: If a candidate supports an optimistic technology-enabled future,…

• @brianbrackeen Brian Brackeen on x

  I know countless Black folks who's partied at Ben's house. They love his love for Rap, his diverse family, etc. In the end he supports a man who's directly opposed to you & your family's interests. Did he ever love you? Be honest. Inside, you knew he didn't.

• @danprimack Dan Primack on x

  Marc Andreessen told me during the 2016 election that he was havng a tough time choosing between “a candidate who doesn't believe in science and a candidate who doesn't believe in economics.” Seems like he's gone with the one he doesn't think believes in science.

• @silvermanjacob Jacob Silverman on x

  So much tech money behind Trump now. The ZIRP years made them very rich. Metoo, covid restrictions, wokism, online redpilling made them bitter reactionaries. Now they have a guy to channel their money and grievances.

• @disabilitystor1 Aparna Nair on x

  Increasingly thinking that Silicon Valley is a global force for great evil and nothing else. Nothing else.

• @katewillett Kate Willett on x

  Marc Andreeson is one of the main investors in the Solano CA YIMBY city btw

• @luke_metro @luke_metro on x

  For politicians, is there a lower-cost, higher-reward move than backing crypto?

• @esqueer_ Alejandra Caraballo on threads

  People underestimate just how radicalizing having a trans kid is for these kind of men.  Elon, Horowitz etc. just go off the deep end and blame everyone and society because they think their kid is brainwashed.  It's a specific type of brainworms.

• @cat_zakrzewski Cat Zakrzewski on x

  The plan to ‘make America first in AI’ would favor Silicon Valley investors, who are now flocking to support the former president.

• @cat_zakrzewski Cat Zakrzewski on x

  NEW: Trump's allies are drafting a sweeping AI executive order that would launch a series of “Manhattan Projects” to develop military technology and immediately review “unnecessary and burdensome regulations.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...

• Vox Nicole Narea on x

  Why tech titans are turning toward Trump

• @mac_ryan_ Ryan Mac on threads

  Elon Musk, 2016: “[Trump] doesn't seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States.”  Elon Musk, 2024: “I fully endorse President Trump.” https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @elonmusk Elon Musk on x

  I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery [video]

• @elonmusk Elon Musk on x

  Last time America had a candidate this tough was Theodore Roosevelt

• @jessicalessin Jessica Lessin on x

  One thing different about this cycle isn't just that tech leaders are supporting Trump but they are doing so on their own platforms (Musk: X, Mark and Ben on their own podcast.) Consistent with their plans to go around the media and promote own entities.

• @cornellcas @cornellcas on x

  When it comes to Elon Musk and X, @Cornellgov professor @sekreps says in @nytimes, “it's pretty clear what his political views are, and now people can make a choice with more transparency and information on where they want to spend their time online.” https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @elonmusk Elon Musk on x

  [image]