Erin Griffith
speaker
68 appearances
1 recordings
1 series
first heard Jan 2025
last heard Jan 2025
Erin Griffith’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
And so this is when he basically concludes that Biden is anti-tech. He views the administration and, by extension, Democrats as radical on tech innovation and tech progress, which is kind of his life's work. So all of this together really primes him to be courted by the other side.
Yeah. And, you know, on July 5th, he posted this manifesto, which is something that he does from time to time. He's got some really famous ones, including Software is Eating the World and It's Time to Build. He posts one that is called The Little Tech Agenda.
He basically concludes that, you know, big tech companies have lobbyists that are kind of looking out for them, but no one's sticking up for what he calls little tech. And that includes all the startups and the venture firms that he's working with. And he basically says... Andreessen Horowitz, the venture capital firm, is going to support any candidate that supports the little tech agenda.
And so that's kind of like opening the door for like, hey, you know, any presidential candidate, any congressional candidate that wants to, you know, kind of win our vote and our support, like, tell us what you got. And they tried to meet with both Biden and Trump. They never ended up meeting with Biden, but Trump invited them to dinner.
Mark Andreessen and his partner Ben Horowitz end up at Trump's golf club in New Jersey, Bedminster.
And they're super impressed by Trump.
Andreessen talks about how Trump only ordered meat and how he wined and dined them.
They talk about how Trump talks to everyone. You know, he's really kind of in the mix.
He's telling them kind of exactly what they want to hear.
He wants to do what he can to help tech companies thrive. And he wants government to get out of the way.
And he wants American innovation to be exported all around the world.
And so they were really taken with Trump and his message to them.
Exactly.
Shortly after that, Andreessen and Horowitz post a podcast announcing that they are endorsing Trump for president. They went into a lot of the stuff that we've been talking about, you know, the pressure to moderate content online, the regulation, the fact that Trump is eager to see the tech industry innovate and build and do all the things they want to do. And there was one other reason.
They really talked about how impressed they were by the fact that he, you know, raised his fist after the assassination attempt.
All of these things combined result in their endorsement. And that's really the start of when a lot of people who were maybe privately supporting Trump in Silicon Valley really started to come out of the woodwork and say so publicly.
Absolutely. Andreessen and Elon Musk and a few other leaders combined. I mean, Elon's endorsement was obviously really influential. But within the tech industry, specifically venture capital and startups, you know, Mark Andreessen, his opinion really carries a lot of weight. And I think that did open the door for a lot of people to come out as Trump supporters as well.
Yeah, I think you're right. And there is a little bit of, I think, maybe soul searching in Silicon Valley now, thinking about like which party some people belong to. I mean, the frustration with the Biden administration wasn't just limited to people who were Trump curious or who have supported Trump. I mean, a lot of people were.
We're frustrated with the antitrust policies or with some of the crypto stuff that was happening. So, yeah, there is a little bit of an opportunity, I think, for a reset in Silicon Valley. And we're seeing that happen just as some of the loudest and most influential voices in tech who support Trump are really on this victory lap.
I mean, the tech industry right now is jockeying for a lot of influence in the future Trump administration. With Andreessen specifically, two Andreessen Horowitz partners have already been appointed to join the administration. And lots of tech workers are trying to get involved in DOGE, which is the Department of Government Efficiency. Its goal is to reduce government spending.
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