39 min
Andreessen Horowitz has two partners sitting on the boards of companies that nowcompete with each other: Ben Horowitz at Databricks and Martin Casado atFivetran. Nothing too scandalous on the surface, exceptthe Department ofJusticehasreportedlybeen investigating the arrangementforalmostayear, dustingoff a 112-year-old antitrustlawthat’srarely used against VCs.
Board conflictsaren’texactly new, and these companiesweren’tnecessarily direct competitors when a16z first invested in them. But as portfolio companies expand into each other’s markets, the DOJ’s scrutiny raises a much bigger question for venture firms: How do you manage board seats when the boundaries between your portfolio companies keep moving?
On this episode of TechCrunch’sEquitypodcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane dig into the a16z probe, what it could mean for VCs, and more of the week’s headlines.
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Theresa Loconsolo is an audio producer at TechCrunch focusing on Equity, the network’s flagship podcast. Before joining TechCrunch in 2022, she was one of 2 producers at a four-station conglomerate where she wrote, recorded, voiced and edited content, and engineered live performances and interviews from guests like lovelytheband. Theresa is based in New Jersey and holds a bachelors degree in Communication from Monmouth University.
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