CNBC has posted an article and video of an interesting interview with Marc Andreessen, co-founder of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. While the article covers the main points, I recommend watching the video as it provides a fuller sense of Andreessen's thoughts. In the video, Mr. Andreessen discusses the following:
Link to the article and video:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100880994?
- Tech Bubble or Boom? Andreesen thinks its a tech boom. The internet has entered prime time. Consumers love the internet. E-commerce and advertising are moving online. A lot of things we've been talking about for 15 years are happening in a big way now.
- The IPO market is deeply broken. It's becoming a two class market: public companies and private companies. In general, the private companies are growin very fast and doing very well and delaying their IPOs much longer than they used to. There is a small number of public tech companies doing well, but a much larger number of companies that should be public but aren't. We're at an all-time low in tech IPOs and it's regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley and Reg FD that need reform.
- Andressesn Horowitz like to work with entrepreneurs who want to build big independent long-term companies, and its' these companies that will ultimately go public. They tell these companies to build a fortress before going public, make sure the business is well established, have a lot of predictability, there's a strong patent portfolio, etc.
- Insider trading. He's glad to see the crackdown on insider trading. The market manipulation has become a problem for young public tech companies that see their stocks get whipped around by hedge funds.
- Immigration reform needs to happen. 2/3 of Silicon Valley companies are co-founded by immigrants and those companies over the last 40 years have created millions of jobs. If one wants more high tech success stories, having more highly skilled immigrants is something easy to do.
- Looking forward over a 5-10-15 year basis, he is bullish on the economy.
- An area they like is crowd funding. The feel there's a whole phenomenon around how the economy would work if one can uncover signals and know in advance if consumers will want the product before it's built. Another is collaborative consumption. This includes companies like AirBnB and Lyft, which involve resource sharing where people are sharing their cars and homes. They think this is a powerful trend.
Link to the article and video:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100880994?
