• Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz are the latest and most prominent VCs to back Trump. 
  • Many in Silicon Valley believe a second Trump administration will be more friendly to startup investors.
  • But some VCs are hoping that Biden will drop out of the race. 

Venture capital’s opening salvo in the war for the soul of America took the form of a podcast. “Sorry mom,I know you’re gonna be mad at me for this, but like, we had to do it.” That’s how Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz opened yesterday’s episode of The Little Tech Agenda podcast.

The episode, part manifesto, part gauntlet throw, served as Horowitz’s announcement that he, alongside co-founder Marc Andreessen, will be putting his significant millions to work in support of the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, and his newly announced running mate, Sen. JD Vance, who started his career in venture capital working for Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capital and Steve Case-backed Revolution.

Andreessen and Horowitz are the latest and most prominent members of the startup investing community to publicly support Trump. Up until now, there have been pockets of vocal Trump support within Silicon Valley, including conservative provocateur Peter Thiel, the pugnacious hosts of the All-In podcast, and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale.

And, of course, there is Elon Musk, who's made no secret of his disdain for President Joe Biden and who has pledged $45 million a month to a new Trump-aligned super PAC, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Some VCs interpreted the choice of Vance as a running mate as indicating a more tech-friendly stance from a second Trump administration, according to interviews with more than a dozen Bay Area and New York-based startup investors.

Delian Asparouhov, a partner at VC firm Founder's Fund, hailed the choice by posting on X: '"IT'S JD VANCE. WE HAVE A FORMER TECH VC IN THE WHITE HOUSE. GREATEST COUNTRY ON EARTH BABY."

"I think more and more people are comfortable in the valley coming out now for Trump," said a startup investor, "and as the big-known names do it, more will follow. The MAGA VCs have a lot of AUM and therefore power in our ecosystem."

The A16z turning point

The entry of Andreessen Horowitz, which controls more than $56 billion and whose name is practically synonymous with startup culture, could ignite a race amongst VCs to support the once-and-future president.

"It does all create permission if somebody was gonna be a Trump supporter anyway and was worried about being ostracized," said the leader of a San Francisco-based venture firm with more than $300 million under management, who wished to remain anonymous. Even so, he doesn't believe this represents a sea change for the industry but rather "just a handful of firms."

Others in Silicon Valley are not so sure.

"A lot of VCs right now harbor really conservative views," another venture investor told Business Insider. "There's more or less distaste for Trump the human, but he's simultaneously better for business," they said.

Bradley Tusk, a political strategist turned VC who's worked for high-profile democrats, including Senator Chuck Schumer, says he's noticed a shift in recent months with more and more investors expressing support for Trump.

"If they believe the probability is high that he'll win, they're looking at their portfolio companies and saying to themselves, well it'll be better for me to at least have some influence with the winner. Or they're just hoping Trump will come on their podcast," he said.

Tusk has made no secret of his support for progressive causes, and in the past, he has served as a sort of unofficial ambassador between the Democratic establishment and the tech community, arranging talks and events where VCs can get facetime with high-profile policymakers.

But when it comes to the current presidential race, he says he's not trying to change anyone's mind in Silicon Valley, mostly because he doesn't think it matters much.

"You have two well-funded candidates with basically 100% name ID, so unless you're willing to give high eight or nine figures, it doesn't really matter. Even a VC writing a $2 million check doesn't really move the needle."

The Lina Khan problem

Tusk points out that many VCs see more economic benefits under a Trump/Vance administration.

"VCs are like every voter, you look at your life under one president and then compare it to another. From a pure venture liquidity standpoint, life was better under Trump. That's not necessarily Biden's fault, but it is the reality," he said.

Many VCs point to the Biden administration's strict regulation of the crypto industry, the president's stance on AI, and what they see as the anti-business bent of FTC Commissioner Lina Khan, who has frequently sued to block mergers.

'"After what's been a very choppy time in VC, with few IPOs and the FTC locking down major M&A transactions, investors are voting with their wallets," said a New York-based VC." VCs are thinking the M&A/IPO markets will reopen much faster with Trump at the helm.

"JD Vance is more of a proponent of a regulation-light approach to tech, especially when it comes to crypto," said one Bay Area VC. "People have avoided building in the space given the personal risk of trying to innovate against [SEC commissioner] Gensler and the SEC's current stance, but JD Vance opens up an opportunity. The same will probably be said of anti-trust and FTC rulings moving toward a capitalist-friendly stance."

Most of the VCs Business Insider spoke to were unanimously against Kahn.

"We need deregulation of the FTC; it's terrible. We can't sell our companies because Lina Khan is blocking every merger," said one NY-based VC who also expressed concerns about Trump's anti-democratic leanings. "Does deregulation override social good? For many, it does," they said.

"Lina Kahn is so out of control at justice," complained another Bay Area VC. "It's really, really bad for innovation."

However, Vance has also expressed support for the antitrust policies of Khan, saying in February that she's "one of the few people in the Biden administration that I think is doing a pretty good job."

VCs, for now, don't seem to be too worried about Vance's potential anti-deregulation stance.

"Picking Vance as a running mate— makes Trump ticket more pro-Silicon Valley," said a Bay Area VC. "The shifting tide from Democrat to Republican will make your dollars go further. [VCs] are here to make money, and if they don't make money, then they're not going to have a job."

The silent majority

Not everyone sees Vance's inclusion on the ticket as material. "Vance doesn't change my view," said one investor at Sequoia Capital, a longtime pillar of the startup ecosystem. He says he has noticed a tilt towards Trump in the industry, but it has less to do with Vance and more to do with the widespread belief that a Trump administration would be more tech-friendly.

Other VCs seem to be holding out hope that Biden will drop out of the race amid concerns over his fitness for the job.

"If it is Biden vs. Trump officially, I think many '"never Trumpers" will go with Trump," said a Bay Area VC. "If Biden gets swapped out for someone halfway decent, I think many will vote Democrat. There's a lot of noise in my VC chats about hope for a swap so that they don't have to vote for Trump."

"I personally care dramatically more about a robust democracy that values the rights of all people than I care about my bank account (not that I think an administration that has no regard for the rule of law will, in fact, be good for anyone's bank account)," said investor David Hornik, founding partner of Lobby Capital. "JD Vance is not a friend of business. Or democracy. Or a well-functioning economy. I think the VC community is smart enough to recognize that."