“As I mentioned, Felicia and I have known Vice President Harris for over 10 years and she has been a great friend to both of us during that time,” Horowitz wrote in an email obtained by his venture capital firm Axios. “Because of our friendship, Felicia and I will be making a significant donation to entities that support the Harris-Walz campaign.”
“How do you go back for that?”
I'm… listening. Two things. First, one of the most striking things about the podcast Horowitz created with his a16z co-founder Marc Andreessen was how focused both men were on who would be attending their meetings. In many ways, their political commitments were limited to who would spend personal time with them. Towards the end of the podcast, Horowitz shared a (I think?) heartwarming story about being with Trump's grandchildren – and how he reacted to the news of the Trump assassination attempt: “Oh my God, Grandpa just got shot.”
You know, the whole thing about Harris being “a great friend” to both Horowitz and his wife is a political position for him. In some ways, I get it. I also want my friends to succeed!
But secondly, decisive support was given to Trump before Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race in favor of Harris before the new Democratic nominee received huge support. That meant a16z had already sacrificed any possible influence on a Harris administration — and on a candidate who made Trump seem like a less certain winner. In the event of a Harris victory, these guys would face four whole years without any important meetings, and we already know that they see this as a terrible tragedy for the entire nation.
To regain influence in a potential Democratic-led government, someone had to eat humble pie, and certainly not Andreessen. Horowitz, whose support for Trump was called a “MAGA U-turn.” The San Francisco Standardhas a long history of giving to progressive causes; Harris, then a senator, was even a guest at a barbecue in Horowitz's backyard in 2018.
“I just wonder what they will do if Kamala wins,” one founder said The San Francisco Standard the a16z Trump endorsement. “How do you go back for that?”
Well, I guess we know now. Horowitz's email states that he has had several conversations with Harris and her team – it's important to note that he reached out to the candidate herself, as access appears to be one of Horowitz's top policy concerns. And while Horowitz still thinks President Joe Biden is no good and very bad, he is encouraged “by my belief” in Harris to do good for technology, even though she has not yet established any policy positions.
Harris has made some overtures on what Horowitz called “probably the most emotional issue” of the election: crypto. One of her campaign aides responded to a question about crypto: “She will support policies that ensure new technologies and this type of industry can continue to grow.”