Marc Andreessen, co-founder of considered one of Silicon Valley’s most outstanding enterprise capital corporations, stated he has been a Democrat most of his life. He stated he supported and voted for Invoice Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Nevertheless, he stated he was not loyal to the Democratic Social gathering. He supported and voted for former President Donald Trump within the 2024 presidential race. His causes for selecting Trump over President Joe Biden largely boil down to 1 main subject – he believes Trump’s insurance policies are higher for tech, notably the startup ecosystem.
Anderson defined his reasoning and the way the 2 presidential candidates’ reveals compete with one another on “The Ben & Marc Present,” a podcast he co-hosts with a16z co-founder Ben Horowitz.
“I hope we do not have to decide on sides” Horowitz stated he additionally acknowledged that his political decisions would upset a lot of his buddies and even his mom. “We do [believe] The way forward for our enterprise, the way forward for know-how, and the way forward for America are all in danger.
Anderson and Horowitz clarify that technological prowess is among the three pillars which have made the US probably the most profitable nation on this planet over the previous century (the opposite two being financial and army prowess). American dominance in these three areas helped the US peacefully defeat one of many best threats of the 20 th century, the Soviet Union. The a16z co-founder says the Soviet Union ended the Chilly Conflict as a result of it could not sustain with the US technologically.
“Why is know-how vital? It is as a result of if you do not have the know-how a part of the triangle, you do not have the financial half, you do not have the army half,” Anderson stated.
The pair listed a number of explanation why they imagine the Biden administration will stifle new startups by means of extreme regulation and probably pointless taxes, whereas Trump will assist innovation flourish.
Past that, the co-founders defined that they disagree with the present White Home plan to “over-regulate” synthetic intelligence.
“Any restrictions we impose [on] We ourselves will put the US at an obstacle in comparison with the remainder of the world,” Anderson stated.
Additionally they mentioned Trump’s views on synthetic intelligence at a current dinner with the previous president. “What he stated to us was, ‘[AI] It’s extremely scary, however we completely must win as a result of if we do not win, China will win,” Horowitz stated.
As well as, Anderson stated that not like the Biden administration, Trump’s cryptocurrency regulatory plan is a “blanket endorsement of all the area.”
However Biden’s proposal to tax unrealized capital positive aspects was what Anderson referred to as the “final straw,” forcing him to modify from supporting the present president to voting for Trump. If unrealized capital positive aspects tax takes impact, the startup might have to pay tax on the rise in valuation. (Non-public enterprise appreciation shouldn’t be liquid. Nevertheless, the U.S. authorities collects taxes in U.S. {dollars}.)
“Should you’re a enterprise capital agency, your portfolio is stripped yearly. You go bankrupt,” Anderson stated. “It’s fully mind-boggling for startups.”
Anderson has been outspoken up to now in regards to the significance of know-how to society. Final October, he printed a “Techno-Optimist Manifesto,” calling on know-how consultants to disregard critics and pessimists and embrace know-how as “the one everlasting supply of progress.” The agency is considered one of Silicon Valley’s largest enterprise traders, with greater than $42 billion in property below administration, in keeping with Pitchbook.
