Erin Griffith

And the tech industry was not used to being criticized about privacy, about labor practices. They really didn't like it. And so one moment that really encapsulates that for him — is something that happened in 2015 with Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, when they announced that they were going to donate most of their net worth to charity.

And the tech industry was not used to being criticized about privacy, about labor practices. They really didn't like it. And so one moment that really encapsulates that for him — is something that happened in 2015 with Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, when they announced that they were going to donate most of their net worth to charity.

And in fact, this is, you know, political.

And in fact, this is, you know, political.

But instead of getting the praise and adoration that they expected, they actually got a lot of criticism for the structure that they chose to give the money away in, the way that they were doing it. People were kind of picking it apart.

But instead of getting the praise and adoration that they expected, they actually got a lot of criticism for the structure that they chose to give the money away in, the way that they were doing it. People were kind of picking it apart.

To Andreessen and his telling, this really kind of encapsulated for him the beginning of his shift in perspective on basically everything.

To Andreessen and his telling, this really kind of encapsulated for him the beginning of his shift in perspective on basically everything.

Exactly. He has kind of described this as a little bit of a journey of him asking himself, like, what's happening here? And that was really compounded by the election of Donald Trump in 2016.

Exactly. He has kind of described this as a little bit of a journey of him asking himself, like, what's happening here? And that was really compounded by the election of Donald Trump in 2016.

He talked about how it really took him by surprise and he realized he didn't understand what was happening in the country and he needed to go on his own kind of political awakening and figure out what was driving this.

He talked about how it really took him by surprise and he realized he didn't understand what was happening in the country and he needed to go on his own kind of political awakening and figure out what was driving this.

Well, you know, after the 2016 election, the tech companies came under a lot of scrutiny from both sides. And so kind of while he's doing this inquiry, he's trying to kind of learn about what's actually going on in America. We have these allegations made by U.S. intelligence that Russia had basically hijacked platforms like Facebook and used them to meddle in the U.S. election.

Well, you know, after the 2016 election, the tech companies came under a lot of scrutiny from both sides. And so kind of while he's doing this inquiry, he's trying to kind of learn about what's actually going on in America. We have these allegations made by U.S. intelligence that Russia had basically hijacked platforms like Facebook and used them to meddle in the U.S. election.

So Andreessen has a front row seat to this. He's on Facebook's board.

So Andreessen has a front row seat to this. He's on Facebook's board.

And he felt like it didn't add up and that people were just scapegoating the tech companies.

And he felt like it didn't add up and that people were just scapegoating the tech companies.

Ultimately, U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia did interfere by using social media platforms. And Facebook set up an oversight board to start monitoring this stuff.

Ultimately, U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia did interfere by using social media platforms. And Facebook set up an oversight board to start monitoring this stuff.