Andreessen's Secret Plan To Find the Next Netscape

Hugh Pickens writes "CNN reports that Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen has raised $300 million to launch a new venture capital firm that aims to reinvent the way money is doled out in Silicon Valley while reflecting Andreessen's unwavering view that the Internet will soon take over all aspects of our lives and that online services won't merely supplement your TV viewing or newspaper reading, but will replace those activities altogether. Andreessen, on the board of Facebook and an angel investor in Twitter, says that technology moves so quickly that only the young can keep up with what the latest stuff can do. 'So the 24-year-old coming out of Stanford will have a view of technology that the 29-year-old — who was 24 just five years ago — would never think of,' say Andreessen. 'We love that kind of thing.' Andreessen thinks that when companies are acquired too quickly, innovation slows down, and he says that YouTube might have come up with a path to profitability faster if it wasn't a part of Google. 'It is hard for big ones to out-execute up-and-comers,' Andreessen says. 'Our secret plan is to watch what gets acquired and fund the next company. A good template is to fund companies doing whichever the next-generation product would have been.'"

Comments

Hey!

[QCompson]

"that the 29-year-old -- who was 24 just five years ago" I was told there wouldn't be math.

Umm

[mewsenews]

"So the 24-year-old coming out of Stanford will have a view of technology that the 29-year-old -- who was 24 just five years ago -- would never think of," say Andreessen. "We love that kind of thing."

So how old in Andreessen and how will he recognize the 24yo luminary from the 24yo that is full of shit?

Re:Umm

[jacquesm]

He looks at how well they spell and use grammar.

The value of secrecy

[Allicorn]

Said Andreessen, "Our secret plan is..." ...posted on a blog at NYtimes.com.

You're not doing it right!

Re:obsolete already

[Dystopian Rebel]

Congratulations! According to Andreesen's Law, you are 24 years old.

Re:age discrimination

[iamapizza]

Yes, but I'm 5 years younger than you and am obsolete in ways that you cannot think of.

Off on a tangent

[Anonymous Coward]

As a proud satanist investing in these innovators, I demand to be called a demon investor, not an "angel investor" or some similar pussy ass fairy. (And why aren't there any atheists among the VC any more?)

Re:age discrimination

[kindbud]

Andreeson's delusional thinking shouldn't be trusted.

After all, he's thirty-seven!