It’s time to build

Marc Andreesen and Ben Horowitz are the utmost insiders in venture capital. Through their Andreessen Horowitz VC funds, they have analyzed and invested in thousands of tech startups, deploying over $87B in the past five years (full skin in the game!).

The duo hosts a podcast, The Ben and Marc Show, and, in this week’s episode, they delve into the post-election tech landscape: YouTube Link.

Here are the key takeaways:

The last 4 years

“The last 4 years have been very dramatic; politics have had a much bigger impact on the tech industry than certainly in any other period of our lives”

“It was unarguably the worst 4 years in our careers in terms of White House policies as related to tech”

“They went far outside the law, did things like debanking companies, threatening companies … They tried to destroy the fintech and crypto industries”

“We’d likely fall behind in AI and in the tech race. In addition, the administration took a very insular view on AI”

“All these things depressed everything, including entrepreneurial activity”

Looking forward

“But within 24 hours from the election, the stock had its 5th biggest day in history, with no economic news, nothing. The crypto markets went very beyond that. The fintechs straight out the roof”

“Hallelujah, I think it’s very good, it’s going to be really really good for tech and for startups”

“When this level of pressure is relieved it takes you a little bit of time to realize, my God, I and the founders we work with can actually do all the things. I am so happy for all the founders, all the people trying to do something”

“As a country we have to win, we need technology and that was not the case in Washington… Policy can destroy techno answers”

“They will be open for business, open for conversation and willing to talk”

“Very unlikely we will have to deal with this kind of harassment, the regulatory principle of outlawing things before they happen … to prevent us from winning is probably the worst thing, we do not need time travel regulation now”

Conclusion

We might be on the brink of a new golden age for tech VC.