Marc Andreessen - Industry Influence

Industry Influence

Andreessen is considered a thought leader whose opinions and advice are closely followed. His experiences as an entrepreneur, investor, and board member at several large technology firms have positioned him to “draw insightful conclusions” about technology trends and help Andreessen Horowitz “stand out from the crowd” (The Economist). Andreessen often advises the leaders of companies in which Andreessen Horowitz invests, including Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Mark Pincus of Zynga.

An op-ed piece Andreessen authored for The Wall Street Journal in August 2011, “Why Software Is Eating the World,” received over 445 comments and prompted articles on the topic in The Economist and other media outlets. In the Journal, Andreessen wrote about the growing importance of software to businesses of all types:

More and more major businesses and industries are being run on software and delivered as online services—from movies to agriculture to national defense. Many of the winners are Silicon Valley-style entrepreneurial technology companies that are invading and overturning established industry structures. Over the next 10 years, I expect many more industries to be disrupted by software, with new world-beating Silicon Valley companies doing the disruption in more cases than not.

Andreessen and Horowitz were ranked no. 6 on Vanity Fair’s 2011 New Establishment List, no. 1 on CNET’s 2011 most influential investors list and no. 2 and 21, respectively, on the 2012 Forbes Midas List of Tech’s Top Investors.

In April 2012, Andreesseen and Andreessen Horowitz General Partners Ben Horowitz, Peter Levine, Jeff Jordan, John O’Farrell and Scott Weiss pledged to donate half of their lifetime income from venture capital to charitable organizations.

In 2012, Andreessen was named in Time 100, an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world assembled by Time.