Scott Kupor is the Managing Partner of Andreessen Horowitz, one of the leading VC firms in Silicon Valley. Scott has been with a16z since its founding in 2009 and has overseen its rapid growth, from $300 million in AUM to over $35 billion today. That’s almost 3 times as much as when we last spoke in June of 2020, for E5 of this podcast. Scott is also the author of the book "Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It", which I strongly recommend for anyone interested in venture capital and corporate governance. In this podcast, we talk about many issues, including the SVB collapse, the state of private markets and the role of the board in this downcycle. We also address the growth of AI, novel corporate governance structures by AI companies, and the new geopolitical landscape, including de-coupling or de-risking from China. In addition, we cover crypto markets, fraud in private markets, the state of ESG and DEI in the startup community, among other topics. If you like this show, please consider subscribing, leaving a review or sharing this podcast on social media. You can also contribute as a Patron on the link patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod or you can subscribe to the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at evanepstein.substack.com
(0:00) Intro.
(1:36) About this podcast's sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.
(2:23) Start of interview.
(3:33) On the collapse of SVB and its impact to Silicon Valley and the VC industry.
(9:05) On the state of private markets. *Reference to Aileen Lee's post on Unicorn update (2013-2024).
(14:35) How VCs are approaching tough conversations on shutdowns, downrounds and/or recaps in this down market cycle. *Reference to Scott's book Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It (2019).
(19:10) On the evolution of secondary markets (including founders taking secondaries) and the idea of staying private for longer ("SPL").
(24:15) On startup compensation practices (stock option vesting schedules, RSUs).
(26:21) On a16z's expansion to NYC (~80 employees) and internationally to London.
(28:52) On geopolitics challenges, including China.
(31:06) On the crypto industry (Web3) and its regulatory challenges.
(34:37) On AI as an investment thesis.
(35:30) On some of the novel corporate governance structures used by some leading AI companies (PBCs, LTBTs, etc). On the OpenAI board crisis.
(38:37) Fraud in private markets.
(41:44) On ESG and DEI in the venture-backed startup market. *Reference to a16z Cultural Leadership Fund and Talent x Opportunity (TXO). How LPs think about this, both in the US and abroad.
(44:45) On California as a tech hub and some of its "exodus".
(46:35) Corporate governance matters for late stage companies, independent directors and "overboarding" in the VC context.
Scott Kupor is an investing partner focused on growth-stage companies building in the bio and healthcare industries, manages the firm’s investor relations team, and is responsible for the firm’s growth initiatives.
You can follow Scott on social media at:
Twitter (X): @skupor
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottkupor/