Marc Andreessen & Ben Horowitz on a16z’s New Media Strategy

Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz explain why a16z abandoned old-media defense in favor of flooding the zone, and how they built a dedicated media machine to kingmake portfolio companies.

• a16z abandoned defensive PR after NYT misreported early fund returns; a founding team member nearly quit believing the firm was finished.
• Andreessen argues traditional media now just chases whatever was viral on the internet 24 hours ago, permanently ceding narrative leadership.
• The OODA loop (Observe-Orient-Decide-Act): sustaining a faster decision cycle doesn’t just beat rivals — it causes psychological breakdown in slower competitors.
• McLuhan updated: on the internet, everything collapses into the viral post, which spikes within 12 hours and is forgotten within 36.
• Long-form podcasts and essays are structurally harder to misrepresent; every high-profile cancellation Horowitz recalls traced to out-of-context short-form content.
• a16z hired 18-year-old Hero to run Instagram; the account is up 35% month-over-month; a separate 18-year-old, Richard, leads video, having skipped college.
• Launch-as-a-service product for portfolio companies has delivered millions of views; Casser of Applied Intuition got 4,000 likes on his first-ever tweet after a16z pushed him to post.
• New Media Fellowship drew 2,000 applicants; 65 selected; two have already been hired by a16z itself.

2026-03-18 · Watch on YouTube