A16z offers social media tips after its founder’s ‘attack’ tweet goes viral

TechCrunch
2024.08.16 23:02

Andreessen Horowitz, the venture firm, published a guide on building a social media presence after a controversial tweet from founder Ben Horowitz went viral. Horowitz's tweet criticized an article about his and his wife's political donations, accusing rival VC Michael Moritz of orchestrating it. This incident coincided with A16z's emphasis on social media strategies. Both Horowitz and Marc Andreessen have notable histories with social media, including past controversies and engagements.

On Friday, the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz tweeted out a link to its guide on how to “build your social media presence” which features advice for founders on things like “how to find your people” and “how often to post.”

The timing of the tweet was ironic given the social media frenzy on Friday after founder Ben Horowitz posted on X. He was upset over an article in The San Francisco Standard about the couple’s political donations and accused his rival, VC Michael Moritz — who owns The Standard — of orchestrating the story. Horrowitz said the piece was an “attack on” his wife. (The Standard’s executive editor, Jon Steinberg, said he assigned the article and that Moritz had nothing to do with it.)

A16z’s Marc Andreessen has also had a storied, and sometimes combative, relationship with social media. A Facebook board member, he quit Twitter in 2016 because it had grown too toxic for him but returned and quickly rebuilt a huge following by tweeting throughout each day. Earlier this year, he and VC Vinod Khosla fought on X about AI.