Andreessen: Learning from mistakes is uniquely pernicious in venture capital
Marc Andreessen · Marc Andreessen: Will a16z Go Public & Why Labour Displacement with AI is Wrong? · 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Mar 30, 2026 · at 2:24
Marc Andreessen, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), explains how venture capitalists often pass on winning investments because they pattern-match them to previous bad investments.
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“In venture, the same thing happens. If you invest in a category, or if you invest in a kind of company or you invest in a kind of founder and it doesn't go well, it's extremely easy to learn from the mistake, right, and to basically say, all right, I touched that hot stove, I'm never doing it again, and then, you know, you can tell me what happens next. Right, which is the next thing shows up and pattern matches, and it's the thing that you should invest in, and you have the chance to invest in, and but you touch the scalded stove, and you know, you're, you know, you're learning from your mistakes, right? You're doing the responsible thing, and so you don't do it. And so I think there's something that's particularly pernicious about learning from your mistakes in venture capital.”
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