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With Elon Musk playing such a prominent role in Donald Trump’s transition team, Musk’s associates, many of whom are Silicon Valley venture capitalists, are reportedly being tapped to help.
For example, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and in particular co-founder Marc Andreessen, are frequently mentioned. He, along with Antonio Gracias and Joe Lonsdale, has reportedly been asked to help on Musk’s advisory committee, the government’s Department of Efficiency, which is examining ways to overcome the technical challenges of collecting data on federal programs. The Washington Post on Sunday.
They are among a handful of other Silicon Valley moguls being exploited.
Gracias is the co-founder of Valor Equity Partners, which has well-backed Musk’s companies over the years, including SpaceX and Tesla (the latter where he was a board member from 2007 to 2021). Lonsdale is a co-founder of VC firm 8VC, and an active supporter of defense technology (such as Anduril) and other government technology, such as financial software provider OpenGov. Lonsdale worked under billionaire VC Peter Thiel and helped found Palantir. A16z has been a major investor in SpaceX since about 2022 — and has been buying more shares as it can, TechCrunch previously reported, and Andreessen has been a vocal supporter of Musk.
Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy explained that the DOGE committee hopes to recommend program cuts and reduce the number of federal employees. Wall Street Journal editorial Last week. They also expect to face legal opposition, they wrote. In the near future, the group plans to launch a podcast, WaPo reports.
Meanwhile, Andreessen Horowitz is also said to be running for a position on the cryptocurrency advisory board promised by the Trump administration. It will be staffed with a number of executives from the cryptocurrency industry seeking to assist the United States in setting cryptocurrency and industry policy Executives told Reuters last week. Reuters reported that Brian Quentins, head of cryptocurrency policy a16z, is already advising the Trump team.
Another venture capital being discussed for a spot on this panel is Paradigm, a venture capital firm co-founded by Fred Ehrsam, former co-founder of Coinbase. Paradigm specializes in crypto/blockchain investments. Coinbase, which is not a venture capital firm but funds its own company, Coinbase Ventures, is also interested in the commission, sources told Reuters.
Meanwhile, former Thiel protégé Michael Kratsios, who served as chief technology officer during the first Trump administration, has reportedly been tapped to handle tech policy for the Trump transition team. Politico reported last week. Kratsios was best known for authoring Trump’s pro-AI investment executive order of 2020. Before taking his position in government, he worked at Thiel Capital. However, Kratsios is not currently a VC. He has been working at artificial intelligence company Scale AI since 2021, according to him LinkedIn.
A16z and Lonsdale could not immediately be reached for comment. They also did not respond to a request for comment from The Washington Post.
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