Erik Torenberg

Who they are

Erik Torenberg is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz — acqui-hired in April 2025 when a16z absorbed his media company Turpentine, and before that co-founded Village Global and On Deck.

Person

Erik joined a16z in April 2025 when the firm absorbed Turpentine — a podcast and newsletter network he'd built as a media business focused on tech, venture capital, and culture. His career arc runs from the founding team at Product Hunt, to founding On Deck in 2015 (a fellowship program he described as a Stanford-like experience for internet-era careers), to co-founding Village Global in 2017 as an early-stage venture fund connecting founders with successful entrepreneurs. He's also an angel investor with a hybrid operator-investor profile throughout. He co-founded three distinct enterprises: Village Global (early-stage VC fund), On Deck (founder fellowship program), and Turpentine (podcast/newsletter media network). He also built BriefLink, a tool that helps startups minimize upfront time for VC meetings by answering 9 questions, and runs a side Substack called Cookbook for Connection focused on hosting and human experiences. The through-line is community architecture — every move has been about building networks, whether for founders, investors, or audiences. He writes at eriktorenberg.substack.com and keeps a site at eriktorenberg.com, covering culture, politics, tech, AI/AGI, and what he calls emotional capacity; he appeared on the NFX podcast with James Currier discussing 'Citizens of the Internet' and in 2025 recorded 'a16z's New Media Playbook' for the a16z podcast. He studied Economics at the University of Michigan and speaks Spanish.

Company

The most recent a16z moves are all scale and scope: in July 2026 the firm led a €385 million Series A in Mistral AI at a $2 billion valuation, and that same month is leading a $2 billion funding round for data center operator Switch Inc., committing $400 million itself. In June 2026 it led a $33 million seed in Ornn, a compute-power marketplace for AI workloads, and is reportedly in advanced talks to lead a $2 billion raise for AI coding startup Cursor at a $50 billion valuation alongside Thrive Capital. All of this follows the firm's record January 2026 fundraise of more than $15 billion across five funds — including a $6.75 billion growth fund, $1.7 billion each for AI apps and infrastructure, $1.176 billion for American Dynamism (defense, housing, supply chain), and $700 million for Bio & Health — which represented over 18% of all U.S. venture capital raised in 2025 and brought total AUM to roughly $90 billion.

Market

a16z sits at roughly $90 billion AUM, level with Sequoia Capital as one of the two largest U.S. venture firms, competing primarily with Sequoia, Insight Partners, Bessemer, Accel, and NEA. Its differentiation is a 'full-service' operating platform — talent, go-to-market, policy, and recruiting support — rather than capital-only deployment. The firm has leaned heavily into U.S.-China tech competition as a strategic frame, backing AI, defense, and sovereign-aligned infrastructure while simultaneously funding a $100 million political network to shape U.S. AI regulation.

Network

Erik has a documented relationship with James Currier of NFX, with whom he co-appeared on the 'Citizens of the Internet' podcast. His a16z partner context includes Chris Dixon (leading crypto) and Alex Rampell (leading AI), and Ben Horowitz co-led the January 2026 fundraise that defines the firm's current posture. His broader network is rooted in the founder and early VC community he built through Village Global and On Deck.

James Currier· General Partner, NFX
Chris Dixon· General Partner (Crypto), Andreessen Horowitz
Alex Rampell· General Partner (AI), Andreessen Horowitz
Ben Horowitz· Co-Founder and General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz

How they likely show up

Co-founded three distinct companies (Village Global, On Deck, Turpentine) across different verticals — signals high agency and a pattern of starting things rather than joining them.
Turpentine was acqui-hired into a16z, meaning his media output was valued as a strategic asset, not a side hobby → he treats content and audience-building as a core business function, not marketing.
Active Substack covering culture, politics, tech, AI, and 'emotional capacity' alongside professional VC writing → comfortable operating across registers, not just the technical or financial.
Role type marked as hybrid (investor + operator + media) with mixed tenure shape → likely moves between modes quickly; probably not a sit-and-wait style thinker.
Built BriefLink specifically to compress VC meeting prep into 9 structured questions → values clarity and efficiency in how information gets exchanged before a meeting.
Possibly — the 'Citizens of the Internet' framing with James Currier suggests he thinks about identity and belonging in digital communities, which may show up in how he evaluates founder networks and community-driven products.

Conversation tips

→ Reference Turpentine specifically — not just 'your media work' — and ask how the acqui-hire has changed how he thinks about a16z's content strategy. It's a distinctive entry point.
→ He writes about emotional capacity alongside AI and culture, so he responds to ideas at the intersection of human behavior and technology, not purely technical or financial framing.
→ BriefLink is a tell: he built a tool to cut meeting friction down to 9 questions. Come with a tight, structured ask — he'll likely disengage from vague or sprawling pitches.
→ He's an Economics grad who built communities before funds — appeal to network effects and founder density rather than leading with market size TAM slides.
→ Mention his Substack or eriktorenberg.com by name if you've read it — he'll notice whether you've actually engaged with the work or just skimmed his LinkedIn.

Toolbox

Openers

Open on the Turpentine acqui-hire — he built a podcast and newsletter network from scratch, a16z absorbed it as a strategic asset in April 2025, and he's now shaping 'a16z's New Media Playbook' from the inside. That's an unusual path into a GP seat and worth unpacking.
Reference BriefLink — he built a tool that collapses a VC intro meeting into 9 structured questions. It's a small but pointed product that reveals how he thinks about information design and time.
Lead with On Deck: he tried to build 'a Stanford-like experience for the internet career lifecycle' starting in 2015, a decade before cohort-based learning became a standard category. Ask him what he'd build differently now.

Discovery questions

You built Turpentine as a standalone media business and then it became part of a16z — how has operating inside a firm changed what you can do with the content, versus running it independently?
With a16z deploying across AI infrastructure, American Dynamism, and crypto simultaneously, how do you think about where a media and community lens actually moves the needle for portfolio companies?
On Deck was about creating a network of founders before 'community-led growth' was a playbook — looking back, what did you get right about network architecture, and what did the market get wrong about what you were building?

Avoid

Don't pitch him on a company by leading with market size or TAM — his orientation is founder networks, community density, and media reach, and generic VC framing will land flat.

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