Ben Horowitz on How a16z Built a Venture Machine | Ep. 38

You know, when we started the firm, like, a big idea that we had was that venture capital was disappointing as a product for an entrepreneur. We always thought, "Wow, a much better product would be, give me, like, the network to be confident and the advice I need to run this fucking thing."

[upbeat music] Ben, I'm really happy to be back here doing this. I got to be in the same room with Marc earlier in the year, and I'm, I'm really happy that you're doing this with me.

I know. I'm glad to be here. This should be some fun.

Can we start with your relationship with Marc? 'Cause I think it's, like, a super unique thing-

Yeah

... where you guys obviously work together, you know, running companies. You've built this firm together. You have a really unique relationship.

Yeah.

I can't think of that many examples where I feel like I've seen it in that sort of equal way for so long. Can you talk about it a little bit?

We've been working together thirty years. Uh, and, uh, I, I, I would say we're, we're both different and complement... and, and the same, and so not too complementary, so that helps. Um, he's kind of like, uh, we're a little more like relatives than, than anything else at this point, you know, working together thirty years and so forth, so-

Yeah

... uh, yeah.

Like, are you friends outside of the work context? Or, like, what's like on a, on, like, a non-work situation, like, what is the interaction like?

Yeah, we're, we're friends, but not like drinking buddies or something like that, right? Like, uh, we both work so much, we mostly talk about work anyway, and then, like, 'cause we're working together-

Yeah

... we're talking about work. But it's kind of like the, the way I would describe it, um... And I, I want to say this without sounding-- I'm not making the, like, level comparison, like, I'm, uh, so I'm just saying the relationship comparison that I think-

Mm-hmm

... is most similar that I've know about is kind of the Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones relationship, if you think about that. Um, and that, yeah, Marc's more Michael Jackson, like, he's a, a star of talents that nobody else has.

Yeah.

Like, nobody else has maybe, like, ever had, right? Like, you've talked to Marc. Um, to the point where, like, as a firm, we can just put him out there, and it's like-

Yeah

... a magic trick. Like, he's like, bang, you know? And, you know, for me to, you know, my kind of relationship with him is, you know, like a Quincy Jones. It's not like I'm, uh, you know... I, I'm certainly not Michael Jackson, but I know enough. You know, Quincy Jones knew so much about music-

Mm-hmm

... and so much about how you get the most out of somebody that talented. You know, that makes it work together, so I can surround Marc with the kinds of people, with the kinds of ideas, and so forth, that maximize him. And then, you know, like, he's makes me much, much better 'cause he's Michael Jackson, and, like, you're never, [chuckles] you're never gonna make Thriller if you don't have Michael Jackson.