Erin Griffith

And so it was, you know, a little bit of a surprise when in 2024, he came out in support of Trump pretty loudly, donated money to the campaign. And now that Trump's about to take office, he's been kind of a key advisor in the transition. He's been spending a lot of time at Mar-a-Lago. He's been recommending people from the tech industry to work for the new administration.

And so it was, you know, a little bit of a surprise when in 2024, he came out in support of Trump pretty loudly, donated money to the campaign. And now that Trump's about to take office, he's been kind of a key advisor in the transition. He's been spending a lot of time at Mar-a-Lago. He's been recommending people from the tech industry to work for the new administration.

For Andreessen, it starts with this concept that he calls the deal. Mark Andreessen, welcome to Honestly.

For Andreessen, it starts with this concept that he calls the deal. Mark Andreessen, welcome to Honestly.

I'm really happy to have you. And he's talked about this on a number of podcasts, including Barry Weiss's and Joe Rogan's.

I'm really happy to have you. And he's talked about this on a number of podcasts, including Barry Weiss's and Joe Rogan's.

The deal is that you could be a successful business person and you get celebrated for your innovations or your business success. You get celebrated for making lots of money. And then at the end, you give it all away and you are further celebrated for that success.

The deal is that you could be a successful business person and you get celebrated for your innovations or your business success. You get celebrated for making lots of money. And then at the end, you give it all away and you are further celebrated for that success.

You know, the idea sort of is you will thank us.

You know, the idea sort of is you will thank us.

And you will mostly leave us alone and let us innovate.

And you will mostly leave us alone and let us innovate.

This is kind of the philosophy that his whole career has operated by. He found success at a really young age. He was the co-founder of this iconic early internet company called Netscape. He made a lot of money and went on to be a very successful venture capital investor after that. He was thinking like, this is great. I'm doing great things for the world and the world is going to thank me for it.

This is kind of the philosophy that his whole career has operated by. He found success at a really young age. He was the co-founder of this iconic early internet company called Netscape. He made a lot of money and went on to be a very successful venture capital investor after that. He was thinking like, this is great. I'm doing great things for the world and the world is going to thank me for it.

His political views kind of reflected that as well. He was a big fan of Obama. He even wrote an op-ed about his choice to support him. And part of it was that he personally liked Obama. He called him smart, normal, curious, not radical, post-boomer. He was a fan. But, you know, in his view, the deal kind of started to break down toward the end of the Obama years.

His political views kind of reflected that as well. He was a big fan of Obama. He even wrote an op-ed about his choice to support him. And part of it was that he personally liked Obama. He called him smart, normal, curious, not radical, post-boomer. He was a fan. But, you know, in his view, the deal kind of started to break down toward the end of the Obama years.

There's no doubt the sharing economy is disrupting traditional businesses. A little context that's kind of helpful for understanding this, you know, in the middle of the 2010s, tech as an industry was going from this kind of quirky niche thing that was happening to an extremely powerful and bigger than ever part of our lives and our economy.

There's no doubt the sharing economy is disrupting traditional businesses. A little context that's kind of helpful for understanding this, you know, in the middle of the 2010s, tech as an industry was going from this kind of quirky niche thing that was happening to an extremely powerful and bigger than ever part of our lives and our economy.

Amazon is disrupting retail. Let's look at Airbnb for one. Startups are disrupting taxis and hotels. Taxi drivers angry and frustrated that Uber and Lyft drivers are taking their business while escaping the expensive regulations taxis face. There are these major changes happening, and the tech industry is kind of ascendant. But when that happens, you know, it brings a lot of criticism, too.

Amazon is disrupting retail. Let's look at Airbnb for one. Startups are disrupting taxis and hotels. Taxi drivers angry and frustrated that Uber and Lyft drivers are taking their business while escaping the expensive regulations taxis face. There are these major changes happening, and the tech industry is kind of ascendant. But when that happens, you know, it brings a lot of criticism, too.