Do Revenue and Margins Still Matter in AI?

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Dec 18, 2025

David George, a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and a key player in backing notable startups like Stripe and SpaceX, dives into the evolving landscape of AI and growth investing. He discusses how private markets can generate significant value and the enduring importance of revenue amidst AI advancements. David emphasizes the unique strategies in identifying and supporting exceptional founders, the dynamics of winner-take-all markets, and the potential of AI to reshape productivity and company valuations.

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INSIGHT

Big Funds Can Still Win Big

Large funds can outperform smaller ones because capturing a few massive winners drives returns.
David George cites a $1B fund where Databricks returned 7x and Coinbase 5x of the fund.

INSIGHT

Private Markets Capture More Value

Private markets have grown massively and now capture much of early value creation before public IPOs.
David George argues tech waves and larger private market cap create bigger late-stage outcome opportunities.

ADVICE

Focus On Product, Not Listing Status

Don't assume public vs private status changes competition; focus on product and market fit.
Stay in companies you believe in and increase ownership over time when beneficial.

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In this episode, we’re sharing a conversation with David George, General Partner at a16z on the firm’s growth investing team. David has been involved in backing many of the defining companies of this era and is now investing behind a new wave of AI startups.

This discussion goes deep into how the a16z growth practice operates: how the team hires and develops a “Yankees-level” culture, how investment decisions get made without traditional committees, and how they build long-term relationships with founders years before investing.

A major focus is AI. David talks through how the team is investing across the stack and why he believes this period could create some of the largest companies ever built.

He also walks through the models that guide his thinking: why markets often misprice consistent growth, what makes “pull” businesses so durable, why many important markets become winner-take-all, and what he’s learned from studying exceptional founders — especially the “technical terminators” he’s drawn to.

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