Trendaavat aiheet
#
Bonk Eco continues to show strength amid $USELESS rally
#
Pump.fun to raise $1B token sale, traders speculating on airdrop
#
Boop.Fun leading the way with a new launchpad on Solana.
Margit Wennmachers
Operating Partner @a16z. Head of marketing/content. Mom. Immigrant. Not messing around….
Time for a Margit update!
Here is the news: I’m “graduating” from operating partner to partner emeritus @a16z.
First, let me back up. It seems that I do things in decade and a half increments. I got to the US in 1991 (October 19 is like a sort of birthday. Ask any immigrant and they will know their US birthday!). There was a tech recession at the time. Also, no American resume. Nor academic credentials. But this is America! And it came through for me.
I spent a few years trying to get a job. I got a temp job at a tech PR firm. Then I got my first real break. A huge thank you to @simonecoxe and @maureenblanc for giving me my first real job and a shot at an actual career. That was a job as Account Executive at Blanc & Otus.
I worked there for 4+ years. Then the talented @carynm650 and I started The Outcast Agency, which turned out to be the very best tech comms firm in the world. We built Outcast into the most sought after firm for tech franchises for over a decade and a half. We sold it to Nextfifteen (thank you, @timdyson . So that house was built; it’s still around and has amazing clients.
@bhorowitz and @pmarca came calling. Before they ever raised money. These guys were ballsy. It was the height of the financial crisis, there was zero liquidity. Ben and Marc wanted to raise $300m. Just the two of them. When probed on this, Marc just said, “Let’s assume success, shall we?”
Despite the risk…. It was a chance to build the top brand in venture capital. Period. Mind you, back then no VC firm was doing any marketing at all. It was seen as almost unseemly! I love building so I took a chance. The founders made me - I think - the first VC firm CMO. Now every firm has one of those, and that’s a good thing.
Over the last 15 fabulous years, we’ve done so many things:
- We marketed ahead of any result. We had to. So we marketed people and their ideas.
- We invented going direct, creating a powerful content operation that allows us to communicate on our terms.
- We produced events where people tried to crash multiple times and had to be escorted out by security.
- Literally so many firsts and big things, there are too many to list them all.
Now we actually have results! And we’re still the most exciting brand. a16z is full of talented people giving their best, full of amazing portfolio companies, and a very large and powerful network that everyone in our orbit can plug into.
I can’t possibly thank every single person in the firm here, so I will keep it to the founders for being committed to building the top brand, and to @garcegarce of course. She was my first hire - she also took a chance on me and our entire project. Finally, a heartfelt thanks to the indefatigable @Mili10 , who has made my life easier and more productive for a decade.
My sincerest thanks. Many more of you deserve a thank you, I’ll ping you directly.
What’s ahead? I will be an active advisor for the next 6 months. We all want to make sure the change is smooth, in particular for the folks in our network who have a long-standing relationship. After that, I will not be gone and dead, haha. While I’ll take a nice break, I’ll also be looking for what to build next. My number won’t change. So feel free to reach out if you need anything.
The house is built. I will forever bleed a16z. Here’s to more building!
224,05K
Thank you for founding our bio+health practice. Exciting times ahead. Thank you!
10.6.2025
A Personal Update
By Vijay Pande
Today, I’m sharing that after more than a decade, it’s both exciting and bittersweet that I’ll be stepping away from my role at Andreessen Horowitz. This has been one of the most meaningful chapters of my life, and I’m filled with gratitude as I reflect on the journey.
I joined @a16z in 2014 as a Professor-in-Residence, just coming off my time as chair of Biophysics and Henry Dreyfus Professor of Chemistry at Stanford. What started as an observation that tech companies are poised to make major impacts in Bio and Health quickly evolved into something much larger: my founding of the a16z Bio + Health fund, a new strategy at the intersection of AI, computation, and biology — and the chance to build an investing platform from the ground up.
I’m also proud not only of the companies I’ve backed — including Devoted Health, Function Health, Insitro, Freenome— but also of the team I built to carry this vision forward. What began as a speculative bet became a thriving and deeply mission-driven practice, thanks to the people who believed in it and helped shape it every step of the way.
This transition could not have been possible without the incredible people I’ve worked with:
● I want to thank Marc and Ben for taking a bet on me—and on the idea that biology could be engineered, and that venture capital had a role to play in building that future. Their support and belief shaped everything that followed. We should all be proud of the impact we’ve had shaping the future of health.
● I’m deeply grateful to the team I’ve helped build in the Bio + Health practice: Jorge Conde, Julie Yoo, and Vineeta Agarwala. It’s been an honor to work alongside them to build this platform from the ground up. I’ve had the privilege of mentoring Vineeta since her days at Stanford, and I could not be prouder of the leader she’s become.
● To our founders, thank you for your courage, your brilliance, and your trust. Your creativity, commitment and energy to building what we all know is possible is nothing short of inspiring and contagious. You’ve challenged me, inspired me and reminded me why this work matters so much. It’s been one of the greatest privileges of my career to support you.
● To our limited partners, thank you for believing in this vision and making it possible to pursue it with long-term conviction.
Though I’m stepping away from the firm, I’m not stepping away from the cause. If anything, I feel more energized than ever about the future of bio + health. Writing the next chapter of the playbook in healthcare will require a deep imagination, more cross-disciplinary collaboration, and a willingness to build boldly—and I look forward to being part of that in new ways.
Some of you may remember a talk I gave called Disrupt Yourself — and true to that message, I’m doing just that. I’m heading into a new chapter focused on the future of AI, healthcare, and prevention.
With deep gratitude,
Vijay Pande
1,07K
Margit Wennmachers kirjasi uudelleen
1/ @CAForever is answering the call to propel American shipbuilding for the next century. With today’s @POTUS Executive Order and the bipartisan SHIPS Act, we’re offering 3 miles of our waterfront to build the Solano Shipyard, the largest shipbuilding complex in America. 🧵
1,32M
Johtavat
Rankkaus
Suosikit