Marc Andreessen

The official organs of the elite turned on us and everything we did was evil. It was actually fairly amazing. In 2012, social media was considered an absolute unalloyed good by the mainstream press because it had gotten Obama reelected and it had been the catalyst for the Arab Spring.

The official organs of the elite turned on us and everything we did was evil. It was actually fairly amazing. In 2012, social media was considered an absolute unalloyed good by the mainstream press because it had gotten Obama reelected and it had been the catalyst for the Arab Spring.

Everybody knew that it would only ever get the right political candidate elected, like Obama, and everybody knew that the Arab Spring would result in peace and democracy throughout the Middle East forever. And then by 2016, the narrative had completely flipped to social media and the internet and tech are destroying democracy and everything is being ruined by it.

Everybody knew that it would only ever get the right political candidate elected, like Obama, and everybody knew that the Arab Spring would result in peace and democracy throughout the Middle East forever. And then by 2016, the narrative had completely flipped to social media and the internet and tech are destroying democracy and everything is being ruined by it.

And so the press coverage, all of that was like a canary in the coal mine. Part of it was the employee base got radicalized. By the way, a bunch of the professional investors got radicalized. I had this bizarre situation where you had these big investment managers showing up demanding radical politics in your company, which was completely bananas.

And so the press coverage, all of that was like a canary in the coal mine. Part of it was the employee base got radicalized. By the way, a bunch of the professional investors got radicalized. I had this bizarre situation where you had these big investment managers showing up demanding radical politics in your company, which was completely bananas.

At the time, you had a thousand other versions of this. And then ultimately what happened was the government itself showed up. And the bureaucracy under Trump started to do this kind of outside of his direct control.

At the time, you had a thousand other versions of this. And then ultimately what happened was the government itself showed up. And the bureaucracy under Trump started to do this kind of outside of his direct control.

But under Biden, it became a concerted campaign I would describe as destruction with just like an endless barrage of prosecutions, investigations, Wells notices, debanking, censorship, attacks, a comprehensive attempt to basically destroy entire sectors. Of course, that's what we ultimately ended up reacting to.

But under Biden, it became a concerted campaign I would describe as destruction with just like an endless barrage of prosecutions, investigations, Wells notices, debanking, censorship, attacks, a comprehensive attempt to basically destroy entire sectors. Of course, that's what we ultimately ended up reacting to.

My hope is that's over, which is to say the new administration is taking a very different approach and not doing all those things. And then my hope is the next Democratic government basically realizes that attacking tech and attacking startups is actually not necessary. And in fact, was probably counterproductive because like if you drive Elon Musk out of your party, it has consequences.

My hope is that's over, which is to say the new administration is taking a very different approach and not doing all those things. And then my hope is the next Democratic government basically realizes that attacking tech and attacking startups is actually not necessary. And in fact, was probably counterproductive because like if you drive Elon Musk out of your party, it has consequences.

I talked to a lot of Democrats. We support a lot of Democrats at the firm, a lot of Democratic congressmen and senators. And I talked to them a lot. I'll be out there again next week talking to them.

I talked to a lot of Democrats. We support a lot of Democrats at the firm, a lot of Democratic congressmen and senators. And I talked to them a lot. I'll be out there again next week talking to them.

Basically, what they tell me is like, look, there's a civil war inside the Democratic Party between basically those of us who think the party should come back to the center and just stop basically attacking capitalism and attacking business and attacking tech and just get back to winning elections. And then there's a bunch of us who think that the party actually needs to become more radical.

Basically, what they tell me is like, look, there's a civil war inside the Democratic Party between basically those of us who think the party should come back to the center and just stop basically attacking capitalism and attacking business and attacking tech and just get back to winning elections. And then there's a bunch of us who think that the party actually needs to become more radical.

We need to differentiate more from the other side and we need to become more, I don't want to use pejoratives, but more extreme in economic policy, more extreme in tech policy, more extreme in social policy. They're fighting that. My hope is that they're going to work their way back to the center so we never have to go through this again.

We need to differentiate more from the other side and we need to become more, I don't want to use pejoratives, but more extreme in economic policy, more extreme in tech policy, more extreme in social policy. They're fighting that. My hope is that they're going to work their way back to the center so we never have to go through this again.

And we can have positive relationships with both sides, but we'll see what happens.

And we can have positive relationships with both sides, but we'll see what happens.