Silicon Valley is coming to Washington D.C.
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Venture capitalists spent much of last year blaming government for their dearth of distributions. Those excuses wore pretty thin, but will evaporate come Jan. 20.
The big picture: Silicon Valley is about to influence D.C. like Wall Street once did.
- Any future fingerpointing will be at a mirror.
Zoom in: President-elect Trump has named a slew of VCs and tech execs to his administration, particularly in policy areas that could impact investment returns.
- Craft Ventures founder David Sacks is the highest-profile hire as AI and crypto czar, with a team that is expected to include former Andreessen Horowitz partner Sriram Krishnan.
- Scott Kupor may be the most powerful, tasked with leading the Office of Personnel Management (i.e., the federal government's HR agency). He's managing partner of Andreessen Horowitz, the firm's first employee, and former chair of the National Venture Capital Association.
- Others joining the White House in various roles include Jacob Helberg (Palantir), Michael Kratsios (Scale AI), and Emil Michael (ex-Uber). Kratsios is a vet of Trump 1.0, while Michael was considered for a Cabinet post.
- Even Trump's cabinet will feature three former tech CEOs in Jared Isaacman (NASA) Kelly Loeffler (SBA) and Doug Burgum (Interior), the latter of whom also co-founded a VC firm. Plus former venture capitalist and VP-elect JD Vance.
Don't forget: And then there's Elon Musk and his Doge disciples, who reportedly include longtime associate and Boring Co. president Steve Davis.
Behind the scenes: Trump's implicit endorsement of Musk's position on H1-B visas, in opposition to longtime MAGA, suggests that the ties run deeper than electoral expediency. And that the red carpet is even more ingrained for "Little Tech" than it was during the Obama years.
The bottom line: Trump 2.0 is shaping up to be an access administration for Silicon Valley.
- That should pay tangible dividends for all VCs, regardless of political affiliation. If it doesn't, the entire industry is in for a reckoning.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Jacob Helberg was not part of Trump's first administration.
