I recently joined App.net’s board of directors and I’m really excited about Dalton Caldwell’s grassroots campaign to build an ad- and influence-free social network. I have contributed to Dalton’s quest and encourage everyone to read his blog and join.app.net! Dalton’s latest update is re-posted below. App.net is not vaporware We shipped an alpha version of App.net.…
More »One of the most frustrating things I’ve experienced as a leader is putting months into recruiting an amazing VP or engineer, only to have them change their mind at the 11th hour because of a ridiculous counteroffer. This is the big risk you face when aiming for the best people on the planet (see: “Hiring…
More »As a first time CEO, there were times when I would sit at my desk and think, “What should I be doing today?” This feeling was especially strong after every financing round closed. After our seed round, we had defined the product and the engineers were coding it. I didn’t code. After I hired the…
More »My father, Alfred “Bud” Weiss, owned a car dealership—“Bud’s Cadillacs” of Miami, Florida. When I’d drop by the office, he would usually pepper me with bits of business wisdom, but as a kid, I wasn’t very receptive. My father and I are pictured here: My head was usually buried in a comic book, only half…
More »We are delighted to announce that the six General Partners of Andreessen Horowitz, with our families, are all committing to donate at least half of all income from our venture capital careers to philanthropic causes during our lifetimes. The reason is simple. We are fortunate to work with some of the best entrepreneurs and technologists…
More »Loopt, Whrrl, Brightkite, Meetro and many other promising young startups have all ended up as casualties on the Hamburger Hill called social, mobile, local. With the emergence of a critical mass of GPS enabled smartphones, it stands to reason that that there would be an important new social graph to be discovered. C’mon, don’t you…
More »“Necessity, who is the mother of invention” —Plato, The Republic As we evaluate investment opportunities, we like to dive deep into an entrepreneur’s background and story… What did he study in school? What were his important life choices or challenges? When did he demonstrate courage? How did he come up with the need for creating…
More »When I was a kid, I read tons of superhero comic books. I fantasized about superpowers, but the storylines about heroes with massive Achilles’ heels really held my attention the most. They saved the world but had screwed up personal lives, made lots of mistakes, and often acted like complete assholes. In retrospect, l related…
More »In Europe, most sports leagues participate in a system of Promotion and Relegation. At the end of each season, the top three teams in the second league get promoted to the first league and the bottom three teams in the first league get relegated to the second league. This maintains the intensity of games for…
More »When I went away to college, my father was home alone. He didn’t have many close friends and spent most of his time reading and in front of the TV. As my visits stretched from every few months to a couple times a year, I began to notice him developing some strange behaviors. He had…
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