Silicon Valley legend Marc Andreessen has issued a stark warning to California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) about the fate of the Democrat-run state.
Andreessen, a billionaire venture capitalist who invented the web browser, said California is like “living in the ruins of a once great civilization.”
“Like Rome in maybe 250 A.D., we live amidst an enormous flowering of culture and creativity, but the roads are becoming unsafe and nobody is quite sure why,” he added.
“We are in my 14th year of working to build our venture firm, Andreessen Horowitz,” he explained.
“The overwhelming credit for A16Z’s accomplishments goes to Ben and all our partners, but I do what I can to contribute.
“We are about to pass 500 employees, we’ve dramatically expanded our investing scope, and we’ve implemented an entirely new operating model on the other side of COVID.
“I could not be more proud of the firm and our colleagues, and we’re just getting started.
“I work extensively with our many portfolio companies and their teams — somewhere I’m on the board, but many where I’m not but can scrub in at key times, usually either when things are going really right or really wrong.
“I am stunned daily by the creativity and courage of our founders, and I love working with all of them.
“I spend much of the rest of my time helping to evaluate and close new investments.
“Most new investments A16Z makes are not led by me, but I often partner with my colleagues to land new deals, and I occasionally lead an investment with a founding team I particularly connect with.
“I am currently on 12 boards, 9 private and 3 public, and try to always have at least one slot open for the next big thing.
“Mainly I try to learn a lot,” Andreessen said.
“For example, the political events of 2014-2016 made clear to me that I didn’t understand politics at all, so I deliberately withdrew from political engagement and fundraising.
“Instead I’ve read my way back in history and as far to the political left and political right as I could.
“I’ll list some books I’ve found particularly interesting at the end.
“I keep up something of a public presence.
“I go back and forth on the virtues and faults of a daily social media presence.
“I write on occasion and talk to interesting people in public.
“After a surreal 2020, my family and I almost left California.
“In fact, we bought property in Las Vegas and almost bought in Manhattan, but decided to stay and double down on California instead.
“We rationalize our decision as choosing to live in the ruins of a once great civilization — like Rome in maybe 250 AD, we live amidst an enormous flowering of culture and creativity, but the roads are becoming unsafe and nobody is quite sure why.”
We rationalize our decision as choosing to live in the ruins of a once great civilization — like Rome in maybe 250 AD, we live amidst an enormous flowering of culture and creativity, but the roads are becoming unsafe and nobody is quite sure why.
— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) October 4, 2022
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— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) October 4, 2022
