In just over a decade, Andreessen Horowitz (known as “a16z”) has become one of the best known venture capital firms in the country with a superb track record and an innate ability to spot the next big thing. With early investments in such companies as Instagram, Twitter, Skype, Lyft, Airbnb, Pinterest and Slack—all unicorns—a16z is the envy of its peers.
It is not a stretch to say that when a partner from the firm speaks on a subject, people’s ears perk up. Investors, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders listen closely much like they would to a missive from a renowned hedge fund investor or investment bank CEO.
Recently, a16z announced that it would give up its venture capital status and will register itself as a financial adviser to make riskier investments in such areas as cryptocurrency or token sales. The news sent shockwaves throughout the industry, with some praising founder Marc Andreesseen for a forward-thinking move.
From the beginning years to its new phase, Scott Kupor has been in the front seat managing all aspects of the firm. He was the firm’s first employee and has seen it grow to 150 people and managing over $7 billion in assets.
Scott Kupor will join the HBS Club of NY in an exclusive discussion about venture capital and related trends, as well as discussing takeaways from his book Secrets of Sand Hill Road (Portfolio, June 2019). Scott also will sign copies of his book.
Please join us for this exclusive program as the Club is one of the first to host Scott on his book tour. The event is co-presented with the HBS Angels of Greater New York.
Please note that no refunds will be issued.
Speaker
Managing Partner, Andreessen Horowitz
Scott Kupor is the managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz where he is responsible for all operational aspects of running the firm. He has been with the firm since its inception in 2009 and has overseen its rapid growth, from three employees to 150+ and from $300 million in assets under management to more than $7 billion.
Prior to joining Andreessen Horowitz, Scott worked as vice president and general manager of Software-as-a-Service at Hewlett Packard. Scott joined HP in 2007 as part of the Opsware acquisition, where he was senior vice president of Customer Solutions. In this role, he had global responsibility for customer interaction, including professional services, technical pre-sales, and customer support. Scott joined Opsware shortly after the company’s founding and held numerous executive management positions including vice president, financial planning and vice president, corporate development. In these roles, he led the company’s private financing activities as well as its initial public offering in 2001. Scott also started the company’s Asia Pacific operations and led the execution of the company’s multiple acquisitions.
Prior to Opsware, Scott represented software companies in both financing and mergers and acquisitions transactions at Credit Suisse First Boston and Lehman Brothers. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in public policy with honors and distinction. Scott also holds a law degree with distinction from Stanford University and is a member of the State Bar of California. Scott is chairman of the board of Genesys Works; cofounder and co-director of the Stanford Venture Capital Director’s College; co-founder and co-director of the Stanford Rock Center’s Guide to Venture-Backed Board Membership; Executive in Residence at Haas School of Business and Boalt School of Law; and a Lecturer at Stanford Law School. He is vice-chair of the investment committee of St. Jude’s Children’s Cancer Research Hospital and also serves as a member of the investment committees for Stanford Medical Center, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and Lick Wilmerding High School.
Scott served as Chairman of the Board of the National Venture Capital Association (2017-2018). He also is a lecturer at Stanford Law School.
Moderator
Partner, Oaklins DeSilva+Phillips
Joanna Stone Herman is a Partner at Oaklins DeSilva+Phillips and serves as the TMT Industry Group Co-Head for Oaklins International, our global investment bank with offices in 60 cities across 40 countries. Prior to joining Oaklins DeSilva+Phillips in 2011, Joanna worked in several senior executive roles including as SVP Global Strategy for LexisNexis, EVP of Corporate Development for Thomson Financial Corporate Group, VP of Strategy for Thomson Learning and Director of Strategy for Dow Jones. Joanna also served as CEO and co-Founder of Librify, a technology start-up that was the exclusive e-book platform for Target, sold to Scribd in 2015. Joanna has a B.S. and Masters degrees from MIT and an MBA from HBS.
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