Andrew Chen

Background

Andrew Chen is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), where he has been investing since May 2018 ¹². He currently leads a16z Speedrun, a program that invests up to $1M in very early stage startups and works with them closely over 90 days ³. He also helped raise Games Fund One, a $660M fund focused on investing in video game studios and AI platforms, and its successor Games Fund Two at $600M ⁴⁵.

Before joining a16z, Chen led the Rider Growth teams at Uber from approximately 2015 to 2018, during which time the company entered 800 markets and grew from 15 million to 100 million active riders ²⁶. Prior to Uber, he co-founded a consumer startup that was seed- and Series A-funded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz before being integrated into Uber’s operations ¹².

Earlier in his career, Chen worked as an analyst at Mohr Davidow Ventures ⁶. He is widely credited with popularizing the term “growth hacker” through his blog at andrewchen.com, where he has published hundreds of essays on startups, user growth, and product distribution over the past decade ²⁶. He authored the bestselling book The Cold Start Problem: How to Start and Scale Network Effects (2021), which draws on interviews with teams from companies including Slack, Clubhouse, Zoom, Twitch, Tinder, Reddit, Uber, Airbnb, and PayPal ²⁷.

Chen holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Washington, which he completed at age 19 ². He resides in Venice, California ².

Stated Thesis

Chen publicly describes his investment focus as “tech, entertainment, and AI” via a16z Speedrun ³. He has stated that Speedrun targets “very early stage startups out there that are building in and around our focus of tech, entertainment and AI” and that these companies “wouldn’t know what to do with a16z’s usual check size of $10 or $20 million, but would benefit from the a16z team’s access to hiring, partnerships, financing, marketing, and more” ³.

On the types of founders he backs, Chen has said: “Many of the best startups on the planet were started by first time founders and also repeat founders that also have a chip on their shoulder” ³.

His broader investment thesis emphasizes network effects, marketplace dynamics, and consumer product distribution — themes central to his book The Cold Start Problem and his decade of writing ⁷⁸. When evaluating consumer products, he looks for organic growth signals, noting about one portfolio company: “When an app goes from zero to 1 million active users, and people are using it nearly every day without buying installs or a bunch of advertising…you know that people really love this thing” ⁹.

In 2022, Chen shifted from broad consumer investing to specializing in the intersection of gaming and technology, stating: “I was a little nervous to do this initially, but decided that…I was just being chicken by wanting to stick to consumer” ⁵.

Inferred Thesis

Based on 14 verified investments where Chen led or co-led the deal and/or joined the board:

Sector breakdown (14 investments): - Consumer social/community: Clubhouse, Sleeper, Hipcamp, Snackpass — 4 of 14 (29%) - Creator economy/media platforms: Substack, Maven, Reforge — 3 of 14 (21%) - Gaming/VR/entertainment: Sandbox VR, Ramen VR, plus Games Fund portfolio — 2+ of 14 (14%+) - Food/marketplace: Snackpass, Virtual Kitchen Co — 2 of 14 (14%) - Enterprise/other: Envoy, Practice, Pietra, Polymer — 4 of 14 (29%)

Note: Several companies span multiple categories (e.g., Snackpass is both consumer social and food/marketplace). The above counts each company once by primary category.

Stage distribution: Chen invests across stages. His board-level deals include Series A (Sandbox VR, Substack, Snackpass, Reforge, Virtual Kitchen Co, Maven), Series B (Hipcamp, Sleeper, Clubhouse), and Series C (Sleeper). Through Speedrun, he also invests at the pre-seed/seed stage at up to $1M per company ³.

Geographic patterns: Portfolio skews toward San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles, consistent with Chen’s base in Venice, CA and a16z’s expansion into LA with ~50 employees and a flagship Santa Monica office ⁵.

Network effects as a unifying theme: Nearly every board-level investment exhibits strong network effects or marketplace dynamics — Clubhouse (social audio network), Sleeper (fantasy sports community), Substack (writer-reader network), Snackpass (social food ordering among friends), Hipcamp (host-camper marketplace), Maven (instructor-student marketplace). This aligns tightly with Chen’s stated thesis and expertise from The Cold Start Problem.

Founder profile: Chen appears drawn to founders with deep domain expertise and strong organic traction. He has backed repeat entrepreneurs (Gagan Biyani at Maven, previously co-founded Udemy) and first-time founders with obsessive domain knowledge. He has stated he values both first-time and repeat founders ³.

Co-investor patterns: Several investments include celebrity/athlete co-investors (Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson in Sleeper ⁹; Katy Perry and Justin Timberlake in Sandbox VR ¹⁰), suggesting Chen’s deals attract non-traditional capital. Frequent institutional co-investors include General Catalyst (Snackpass Series B) and First Round Capital.

Notable gap: Despite his stated focus on AI and gaming since 2022, most of his publicly known board seats predate this pivot and are in consumer social/marketplace companies. The Games Fund investments are largely undisclosed at the individual company level.

Portfolio

This table represents Chen’s verified board-level and lead investments at a16z, plus notable pre-a16z advisory roles. Games Fund portfolio companies are largely undisclosed and not included.

Pre-a16z advisory/angel investments: Dropbox, AngelList, Gusto, Barkbox, Front, Product Hunt, Tinder, Workato, Kiva, Boba Guys ¹².

a16z Games Fund One (2022): $660M fund; 25 investments in the first year, with 80% of 2023 investments having a major AI component ⁴. Individual company names largely undisclosed.

a16z Games Fund Two (2024): $600M fund ⁵.

a16z Speedrun: Invested $30M+ in a 45-day period in late 2024, at up to $1M per startup ³⁰. Individual portfolio companies not publicly disclosed at scale.

In Their Own Words

“Clubhouse could not have come at a better time for social media. It reinvents the category in all the right ways.” — Andrew Chen, a16z blog, January 2021 ²¹

“It soon became obvious to me, as my time in the app reached more than a dozen hours a week, that Clubhouse is something special.” — Andrew Chen, a16z blog, January 2021 ²¹

“Clubhouse lets users communicate nuanced, detailed ideas in conversation; not everything needs to be bite-size or tl;dr.” — Andrew Chen, a16z blog, January 2021 ²¹

“For a lot of sports fans, Sleeper becomes the center of gravity. I love the idea of creating that center of gravity.” — Andrew Chen, Crunchbase News, May 2020 ⁹

“When an app goes from zero to 1 million active users, and people are using it nearly every day without buying installs or a bunch of advertising…you know that people really love this thing.” — Andrew Chen, on Sleeper, Crunchbase News, May 2020 ⁹

“Substack would make it simple for anyone to focus on just their writing, instead of having to do all the other stuff.” — Andrew Chen, a16z blog, July 2019 ¹²

“This is the moment the next generation of media is being built.” — Andrew Chen, a16z blog on Substack, July 2019 ¹²

“Hipcamp is at the nexus of several cultural movements: the re-embracing of the outdoors, growth of travel and adventure-seeking industries and land conservation and improvement efforts.” — Andrew Chen, a16z blog, July 2019 ¹⁵

“In Q1 alone, we met over 100 AI x Games companies. And in 2023, 80% of the Games Fund’s investments have had a major AI component.” — Andrew Chen, andrewchen.com, May 2023 ⁴

“There are a ton of very early stage startups out there that are building in and around our focus of tech, entertainment and AI.” — Andrew Chen, Substack, on why he started Speedrun ³

What Founders Say

No independently sourced founder testimonials found. Dedicated searches for quotes from portfolio founders (Nan Wang/Sleeper, Kevin Tan/Snackpass, Chris Best/Substack, Gagan Biyani/Maven, Alyssa Ravasio/Hipcamp, Paul Davison/Clubhouse, Siqi Chen/Sandbox VR) about their experience working with Andrew Chen did not yield direct, attributable testimonials from founders about Chen as an investor.

Ben Horowitz, a16z co-founder, stated when recruiting Chen: “Andrew broke down techniques for distributing consumer products in a way that was so smart, so well articulated and so on-the-money that he turned product distribution into a science” and noted Chen “was generous with his time and ideas” ¹. While not a portfolio founder testimonial, this speaks to how Chen is regarded as a thought partner.

Connections

• Board member, Clubhouse — alongside Paul Davison (co-founder/CEO) and Rohan Seth (co-founder) ²¹
• Board member, Substack — alongside Chris Best (co-founder/CEO) ¹¹¹²
• Board member, Sleeper — alongside Nan Wang (CEO/co-founder); David George (a16z) co-led Series C ⁹²⁶
• Board member, Snackpass — alongside Kevin Tan (co-founder/CEO) ¹⁶¹⁷
• Board member, Hipcamp — alongside Alyssa Ravasio (founder/CEO); co-investors include Caterina Fake (Yes VC), Sarah Tavel (Benchmark) ¹⁴¹⁵
• Board member, Maven — alongside Gagan Biyani (co-founder/CEO, previously co-founded Udemy) ²³²⁴
• Board member, Sandbox VR — alongside Siqi Chen (founder); co-investors include Mike Maples / Floodgate ¹³¹⁰
• Board member, Virtual Kitchen Co — alongside Ken Chong (co-founder, ex-Uber); Adeyemi Ajao (Base10) also joined board ¹⁸¹⁹
• Board member, Reforge — alongside Brian Balfour (CEO) ²⁵
• Board member, Envoy ²⁸
• Former Head of Rider Growth, Uber (2015-2018) ²⁶
• Former Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Mohr Davidow Ventures ⁶³¹
• Author, The Cold Start Problem (2021) — bestselling book on network effects ⁷

Sources