Andreesson Horowitz Borrows a Page from Michael Ovitz

The stats are pretty amazing:  $2.7 billion raised since it was launched in 2009, with a portfolio of more than 90 companies that includes some of tech’s hottest names: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Airbnb, and Foursquare.  Its exits include Groupon, Zynga, and Skype, a $50 million dollar bet in 2009 which quadrupled when Microsoft bought the company for $8.5 billion two years later.  Instagram is another success story, where a 2010 bet of $250,000 turned into $78 million in cash and Facebook shares. For its earliest investors, the firm has already returned nearly all of the $300 million it first raised (most funds last seven to ten years)--and the rest is all profit from here.

Fortune Magazine's recent article, 'Andreessen, Horowitz: Capital's New Bad Boys' reveals a big secret behind Andreessen Horowitz's amazing success: borrowing a page from Michael Ovitz:

"This pitch culture and suite of services come from a secret influence: Michael Ovitz, yet another longtime friend of Marc, who got to know Horowitz when he served on Opsware’s board. At his Creative Artists Agency during the 1980s and 1990s, Ovitz became the most powerful Hollywood agent ever, largely by moving the model from one of a single agent handling all aspects of a client’s business to a full team of specialists.

'They’re very inquisitive guys, and they drilled in deep about what I did, what worked and what didn’t,' says Ovitz, who spends a few days a week now in Silicon Valley, working out of an office at Andreessen Horowitz, meeting with the firm’s portfolio companies. 'If they were going to go head-to-head with these long-established folks, they knew they needed to do something different. Otherwise, their money is the same as anyone else's.'

Just as Hollywood did, Andreessen Horowitz embraced Ovitz’s CAA model fully. Plenty of venture firms like ­Andreessen Horowitz have general partners that used to be CEOs, and plenty of venture firms offer their portfolio companies help with marketing, recruiting, business development and customer contacts. But the traditional VC model leaves it up to one general partner to be the point of contact and main provider of those activities to the startup; Andreessen Horowitz has blown up those walls."

By creating a VC firm that acts like a Hollywood talent agency, Andreessen Horowitz has every entrepreneur in Silicon Valley flocking to their door.  With a dedicated staff of forty-five people working full-time to help its startups find talent, customers and marketing solutions, the firm has reinvented VC culture.

“I don’t think entrepreneurs go to them because they have a lot of money. I think people are going to them because they like the team, they like the services, they like the credibility.” says Elizabeth Obershaw, a managing director at San Francisco’s Horsley Bridge.

“I thought [the business services] was hype at first, but it really works,” says Joe Green, Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard roommate who hired his sales chief for his startup NationBuilder thanks to Andreessen Horowitz recruiters--before he had even signed his term sheet (the firm wound up leading his $6.25 million round in March).

Congrats to Andreessen Horowitz.  Click here to read the full Forbes Magazine Article, 'Andreesen, Horowitz: Capital's New Bad Boys'.

Tom Clancy's Homeland Security in Development by TNT

Tom Clancy’s Homeland Security, Executive Produced by Michael Ovitz, Tom Clancy, Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Chris George, is among 11 new series in development by TNT, the network announced Wednesday.


This event-based procedural written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach and set in Tom Clancy’s world of espionage pits a select team of domestic intelligence operatives against enemies within and without, from narco-traffickers and nuclear terrorists to cyber-criminals and human smugglers.

While many of Tom Clancy's novels - 'The Hunt for Red October,' 'Patriot Games,' 'Sum of All Fears' and 'Clear and Present Danger' - have been adapted for the bigscreen, rarely has his work appeared on television.

Read the entire article, 'TNT Developing Shows From Tom Clancy, Matthew McConaughey and Nigel Lythgoe', on TVGuide.com.

About Tom Clancy
Thirty years ago Tom Clancy was a Maryland insurance broker with a passion for naval history. Years before, he had been an English major at Baltimore’s Loyola College and had always dreamed of writing a novel. His first effort, The Hunt for Red October, sold briskly as a result of rave reviews, then catapulted onto the New York Times bestseller list after President Reagan pronounced it “the perfect yarn.” Since then Clancy has established himself as an undisputed master at blending exceptional realism and authenticity, intricate plotting, and razor-sharp suspense.

Priceonomics Raises $1.5M Seed

Michael Ovitz is among the angel investors in the latest $1.5M seed round for Priceonomics, a Y Combinator Winter 2012 startup.  Funding was spearheaded by Andreessen Horowitz, SV Angel, Spirit Capital, and others.

Priceenomics is "building a smart, curated catalog of all the products ever made...  It identifies an item, and then crawls the web looking for every price it's being sold at second-hand.  It then gives you a suggested price you should be willing to pay, plus an acceptable range and how the price has changed over time.  It then links to eBay, Craigslist, and other places where you can buy the product."

The site saw 250,000 page views in March and is still growing traffic by a brisk 65% every month. Promptly after Y Combinator demo day Techcrunch named it one of the best in class, and it only took 10 days to close the round.

If you are interested in the relationship between Andreessen Horowitz, founder of Netscape, and Michael Ovitz, check out Andreessen's interview of Ovitz on Kara Swisher's blog on All Things D, 'When Marc met Mike: Andreessen Interviews Ovitz', a great video we've featured here before that includes numerous anecdotes from Ovitz's storied career.

Read the entire TechCrunch article, 'YC Price Guide Startup Priceonomics Raises $1.5M Seed From Andreessen Horowitz, SV Angel', here.

O by Kimberly Ovitz

Kimberly Ovitz, daughter of Michael Ovitz, was recently featured in articles in Women's Wear Daily and California Style for her new diffusion line, O by Kimberly Ovitz, an eco-friendly compilation of women’s separates, comprised of season-less styles that combine minimalism with a modern edge:

"Kimberly Ovitz is the latest designer to enter into the lower-price-line realm with her eco-friendly foray, O by Kimberly Ovitz, which was feted Tuesday night at Curve on Mercer Street. Guests noshed on rock candy and sipped various Skinnygirl libations (rose, margarita and white were all being served) while viewing the collection of supersoft tees and dresses, all of which retail for less than $200. “I’m wearing it right now,” Ovitz said of her slouchy black frock. 'It’s cozy, easy, accessible, approachable. I’m all about it.'"

In designing this 100% tencel fabric (a biodegradable fabric made from wood pulp cellulose) capsule collection, Ovitz drew inspiration from the top-selling styles from the main Kimberly Ovitz line as well as continuing to construct stimulating and sophisticated pieces that have a dark and edgy twist that can be worn year-round.  Each season, O by Kimberly Ovitz will be rejuvenated with updated color palettes and silhouettes.


Click here to read the full article in Women's Wear Daily.

Click here to read the article in California Style.