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	<title>Betabeat &#187; By God, Andreesseen Horowitz Will Not Deal with Activist Shareholders</title>
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		<title>By God, Andreesseen Horowitz Will Not Deal with Activist Shareholders</title>

		<comments>http://betabeat.com/2012/07/54116/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Jul 2012 08:45:29 -0400</pubDate>
					<link>http://betabeat.com/2012/07/54116/</link>
			<dc:creator>Kelly Faircloth</dc:creator>
				
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://betabeat.com/?p=54116</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><div id="attachment_42314" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 237px"><a href="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/1101960219_4001-227x300.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-42314 " title="1101960219_4001-227x300" src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/1101960219_4001-227x300.jpg" alt="" width="227" height="300" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">That is a face that says, "Ha-HA!"</p></div></p>
<p><span style="text-align:center;">Ladies and gentleman, there is a shadow stalking the tech scene. First Google, then Facebook, and now a whole raft of up and comers. Yes, it is the <a href="http://betabeat.com/2012/05/if-facebook-is-any-example-expect-more-founders-sticking-around/">founder-controlled company</a> (typically achieved by the arcane means of a dual-class stock structure; don't worry about it), and today the </span><em>Wall Street Journal</em> <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052702303292204577519134168240996-lMyQjAxMTAyMDEwMDExNDAyWj.html">is on it</a><span style="text-align:center;">: "There's a power struggle underway in Silicon Valley. At stake: Power itself." (Pause for Bezosian cackle.) </span></p>
<p style="text-align:left;">The <em>Journal </em>even singles out one firm in particular as the ultimate advocate of the trend:<!--more--></p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align:left;">"Andreessen Horowitz is telling entrepreneurs it prefers situations where the founders have controlling stakes, reckoning that they'll be better able to resist outside distraction and focus on making great products."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>"We bet on boy kings" has a nice ring to it, don't you think?</p>
<p>For example, the paper reports that the firm is currently supporting Fab.com CEO Jason Goldberg as he negotiates for a dual-class voting structure, which would grant him more valuable stock and therefore tee him up for <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-02/zuckerberg-s-control-over-57-of-facebook-may-present-risk-to-shareholders.html">Zuckerbergian levels</a> of control in the event of a future IPO. And we'd probably be doing the same thing, if we were hearing this kind of thing from the namesake Andreessen Horowitz cofounders:</p>
<blockquote><p>"It is unsafe to go public today without a dual-class share structure,'' Mr. Andreessen said. When Andreessen Horowitz invests in a technology company run by the founder, "I feel better if another investor can't topple that person,'' said Ben Horowitz, Mr. Andreessen's co-founder.</p></blockquote>
<p>We wouldn't want any activist shareholders intruding on that tech sandbox, now would we?</p>
]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><div id="attachment_42314" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 237px"><a href="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/1101960219_4001-227x300.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-42314 " title="1101960219_4001-227x300" src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/1101960219_4001-227x300.jpg" alt="" width="227" height="300" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">That is a face that says, "Ha-HA!"</p></div></p>
<p><span style="text-align:center;">Ladies and gentleman, there is a shadow stalking the tech scene. First Google, then Facebook, and now a whole raft of up and comers. Yes, it is the <a href="http://betabeat.com/2012/05/if-facebook-is-any-example-expect-more-founders-sticking-around/">founder-controlled company</a> (typically achieved by the arcane means of a dual-class stock structure; don't worry about it), and today the </span><em>Wall Street Journal</em> <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052702303292204577519134168240996-lMyQjAxMTAyMDEwMDExNDAyWj.html">is on it</a><span style="text-align:center;">: "There's a power struggle underway in Silicon Valley. At stake: Power itself." (Pause for Bezosian cackle.) </span></p>
<p style="text-align:left;">The <em>Journal </em>even singles out one firm in particular as the ultimate advocate of the trend:<!--more--></p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-align:left;">"Andreessen Horowitz is telling entrepreneurs it prefers situations where the founders have controlling stakes, reckoning that they'll be better able to resist outside distraction and focus on making great products."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>"We bet on boy kings" has a nice ring to it, don't you think?</p>
<p>For example, the paper reports that the firm is currently supporting Fab.com CEO Jason Goldberg as he negotiates for a dual-class voting structure, which would grant him more valuable stock and therefore tee him up for <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-02/zuckerberg-s-control-over-57-of-facebook-may-present-risk-to-shareholders.html">Zuckerbergian levels</a> of control in the event of a future IPO. And we'd probably be doing the same thing, if we were hearing this kind of thing from the namesake Andreessen Horowitz cofounders:</p>
<blockquote><p>"It is unsafe to go public today without a dual-class share structure,'' Mr. Andreessen said. When Andreessen Horowitz invests in a technology company run by the founder, "I feel better if another investor can't topple that person,'' said Ben Horowitz, Mr. Andreessen's co-founder.</p></blockquote>
<p>We wouldn't want any activist shareholders intruding on that tech sandbox, now would we?</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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