

Andreessen Horowitz's talent agency model - a5seo
http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2011/01/21/why-andreessen-horowitz-models-itself-after-a-hollywood-talent-agency/

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NIL8
This is an interesting albeit, scary idea.

I can see the benefits of such a company for a select group of individuals.
However, the rest of the population may be treated as second-rate
professionals; like the way it is with Hollywood. Most "talent" in Hollywood
are not the best and brightest. They're either well connected or extremely
lucky (with very few exceptions).

If an idea like this were to be successful, I think we'd see a flood of
talented people more interested in being stars than being productive.

But, then again, maybe we're already there.

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a5seo
I've seen this happen in smaller markets with one dominant VC... Thankfully in
the Valley we're a long ways from a company being DOA without AH as an
investor.

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iamelgringo
Having talked a couple of times to various members of Andreessen Horowitz's
team, I'm thoroughly impressed with they way they are approaching VC in the
Valley. They are very much taking a long term approach to things, and they
have some really good people on their team.

Kudos to them for innovating.

~~~
salemh
[http://www.endeavor.org/blog/interview-wgina-bianchini-
new-m...](http://www.endeavor.org/blog/interview-wgina-bianchini-new-member-
of-gab)

"Entrepreneurs in Residence" is fantastic.

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clofresh
"Groupon looked like a very high valuation," Horowitz said, "but any
investment in a great company at any stage is almost always a good
investment."

I don't think I'd want to hear that statement come from someone who is
investing my money.

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fredoliveira
You should be comfortable hearing a sentence such as that. Horowitz is clearly
generalizing, but a _great_ company will always make a return on investment.
Obviously in this particular case Groupon is going to give investors a smaller
return now than it would have 6 months ago, but it's still a winning strategy.
Great companies keep growing - which is more than a good reason to invest.

~~~
eru
Depends. Even great companies can be too expensive. But the stage doesn't
matter, like Horowitz said.

