Alex Danco on Speechwriting, Blogging, and Giving Founders Power

Summary

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a16z Podcast: Alex Danko on Speechwriting, Blogging, and Giving Founders Power

Date: August 13, 2025
Guests: Alex Danko (Andreessen Horowitz, ex-Shopify), Interviewers from the a16z team

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Alex Danko joins the a16z podcast to discuss his recent move from Shopify to Andreessen Horowitz, and the evolving role of writing, speechwriting, and publishing in tech and venture capital. Danko shares his philosophy on writing as a technology for transferring power and legitimacy to founders, the increasing challenge of standing out amid AI-generated content, and why he sees speechwriting as an underrated tool for organizations and leaders. The discussion ranges from personal anecdotes to meta-commentary on industry writing culture, highlighting how thoughtfully crafted words can shape companies and the future of tech.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The "Trade" from Shopify to a16z

• Funny Moments on Getting Hired
  • Danko recounts being recruited by Eric Torenberg, with jokes about Marc Andreessen negotiating directly with his parents.
  • Unblocking Marc on Twitter as a job requirement
    • Danko jokes: “I had to give him my first final negotiation demand, which was he had to unblock me on Twitter.” (01:49)

Writing as Power Transfer Technology

• On Why Writing Matters

  • Writing is described as a means of imparting power and legitimacy—especially in venture:
    • “What is the job of VC? The job of VC is literally you are the legitimacy bank. Right? Your job is to make founders powerful.” (00:00, 05:34)
  • Well-crafted writing helps founders articulate their vision, making others take them seriously—whether clients, hires, or investors.
  • “As you put in the work to write and as you put into work to read, what happens is it actually reshapes your brain a little bit… the person writing can actually transfer some legitimacy to the person reading.” (00:00, 05:34)

• The Value and Challenge of Authentic Writing in the AI Era

  • Concerns about AI-generated text crowding out thoughtful writing:
    • Interviewer: “At what point is all the text that you’re reading online… just generated and there’s no soul and craft put into it?” (04:43)
  • Danko leans into writing’s "Lindy" (long-lasting) status:
    • "Writing is power transfer technology… it takes a lot of work to write something down… it gives people power." (05:34)

The Formats of Foundational Writing in Venture Capital

• Traditional and New Mediums

  • Deal Memos: Internal logic and documentation of investments.
  • Op-Eds & Market Maps: Public thought leadership (e.g., Andreessen’s "Software is Eating the World").
  • Interviews & Digital Carry Features: Practical, founder-focused content.

• Quote:

  • Interviewer: “When I think about writing at a16z, I think of a few buckets… the Marc Andreessen op ed… market map… those are really cool.” (07:08)

The Case for (Reviving) Speechwriting

• Speechwriting as an Overlooked, High-Impact Medium

  • Danko suggests investing in speeches akin to classic "big ideas" essays, as annual or thematic pillars:

    • "Speechwriting is an interesting and kind of thrown by the wayside craft… There is something that is missing of the craft of like putting in an extraordinary amount of tortured effort into creating… a 5,000 word delivery of what is it that you have to say this year.” (08:31, 08:40)

  • Comparisons with other formats:

    • Podcasts as gateways to deeper exploration rather than vehicles of “legitimacy transfer.”
    • Writing (and speeches) as anchors for internal and public alignment.

• Speeches Set Tone and Energy

  • Interviewer highlights their use for internal alignment: “Sometimes you need a speech… they can really set the tone and the energy within the company.” (09:27)

Virality, Audience, and the Shifting Internet Meta

• Two Audiences for Writing

  • “The first audience is the people who actually read what you said, which is small. The second audience is the people that they tell that thing, right? Because they get something out of retelling it…” (11:03)

• Evolution from Blogs to Social Feeds

  • Evolution of dialogue from comments on blogs to public platforms (Twitter, Hacker News).
  • Returns to writing are high—but the social signals are less direct; metrics shift from comments to "retweets and likes":
    • “[Returns to writing and reading] have never been more valuable, but never been less obvious.” (12:46)

• Bringing Back ‘Legendary’ Content

  • Danko frames his a16z charter as ensuring the written output “shines” and re-centers exceptional, original thought from the firm. (12:46)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “What is the job of VC? The job of VC is literally you are the legitimacy bank. Right? Your job is to make founders powerful.”
  — Alex Danko (00:00, 05:34)

• “My first final negotiation demand, which was he had to unblock me on Twitter.”
  — Alex Danko (01:49)

• “Writing is power transfer technology… it gives them power, right?... your job is to make founders powerful. And having an amazing free tier of that by saying, we think a lot about these things. We want to give you words to express what you’re trying to say so that a client, a hire, an investor will take you a little more seriously is really important to do, you know.”
  — Alex Danko (05:34)

• “There is something that is missing of the craft of like putting in an extraordinary amount of tortured effort into creating… a 5,000 word delivery of what is it that you have to say this year.”
  — Alex Danko (08:40)

• "The first audience is the people who actually read what you said, which is small. The second audience is the people that they tell that thing, right? Because they get something out of retelling it, right? Like, they get that legitimacy, they get that ability to express themselves or whatever."
  — Alex Danko (11:03)

• “The returns to writing and reading have never been more valuable, but never been less obvious.”
  — Alex Danko (12:46)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–01:18 – Alex Danko discusses the power of writing, legitimacy, and his move to a16z.
• 01:18–02:43 – Lighthearted banter about Alex’s hiring, negotiating with Marc Andreessen, and the Twitter “unblock” story.
• 02:43–04:09 – Danko’s writing career and discovering the value of newsletters/lists for founders.
• 04:21–05:34 – Challenges posed by AI-generated writing and why authentic craft endures.
• 05:34–07:08 – Venture capital as legitimacy transfer, power for founders, and writing’s core function.
• 07:08–08:31 – Reviewing types of writing at a16z: deal memos, essays, market maps, interviews.
• 08:31–09:49 – The modern relevance and opportunity in speechwriting.
• 09:49–11:03 – The value of speeches for setting tone, and a16z’s big public statements.
• 11:03–12:46 – Blogging’s microstructure, changing audience, evolution to social feeds, the subtlety of influence.
• 12:46–13:27 – Danko’s mission for a16z’s written brand, bringing back the “legendary” content.
• 13:33–End – Final thoughts, fun references to Ayn Rand, and closing congratulations.

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Tone and Style

The conversation balances thoughtful, philosophical perspectives on the craft of writing with humor and anecdotal stories. Danko comes across as self-aware, witty, and urgent about reclaiming high-effort, high-impact communication in a shifting, AI-saturated media landscape. The rapport between hosts and guest is friendly, with a mix of inside jokes and industry insight.

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Takeaways

• Venture capital’s true product is legitimacy and power, often delivered via words—written or spoken.
• Thoughtful, original writing and speechwriting are vital in a noisy, automated future.
• There’s an evergreen need for founders to receive and wield the right words, both internally and externally.
• a16z sees value in reviving and evolving written mediums, investing in influential speeches, and shaping tech culture through words.

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Transcript

[Alex Danko]

What is the job of vc? The job of VC is literally you are the legitimacy bank. Right? Your job is to make founders powerful. As you put in the work to write and as you put into work to read, what happens is actually reshapes your brain a little bit. It reshapes your understanding of what you're talking about such a way that the person writing can actually transfer some legitimacy to the person reading. There is something that is missing of the craft of like putting in an extraordinary amount of tortured effort into creating, you know, like a 5,000 word delivery of what is it that you have to to say?

[Podcast Host / Narrator]

This year, fresh off the news of his move from Shopify to join a 16z, Alex Danko joined TVPN to talk about the trade deal that brought him here and what he's setting out to do next. Alex shares why he's betting big on the craft of writing in an AI saturated world, why speechwriting might be venture's most underrated medium, and how great writing can serve as power transfer technology for founders. He reflects on his years at Shopify, his long running career as a blogger, and why giving people the right words can change the directory of a pitch, a partnership or a company. We'll hear about the formats he's most excited to explore. A16Z, the role of legitimacy in venture capital and why sometimes the most important negotiation point is just getting unblocked on Twitter. Let's get into it.

[Interviewer 1]

We have Alex Denko. We got a trade. Deal.

[Interviewer 2]

Trade.

[Interviewer 1]

The news broke today. He's going From Shopify to A16Z. And Dreesen Horowitz, Eric Torenberg's latest paper.

[Interviewer 2]

There he is. Alex, welcome to show. How you doing?

[Interviewer 1]

Welcome to the show.

[Alex Danko]

Hey, guys. Thank you for having me on.

[Interviewer 1]

Break it down for us. Anatomy of the deal. What'd they do? Did they sit? Did Mark Andreessen sit down with your mom?

[Alex Danko]

Did Mark Andreessen sit down with your parents?

[Interviewer 1]

Tell them you got a bright future. We would like to take your son.

[Alex Danko]

To the big leagues with Marc Andreessen right next to my mom because I was on vacation that week. We were seeing my parents and the call with Mark was actually a stressful one because I had to give him my first final negotiation demand, which was he had to unblock me on Twitter.

[Interviewer 1]

No way. But he did amazing. He's a notorious blocker.

[Interviewer 2]

What did you do? What did you do to get blocked?

[Interviewer 1]

Never give up if you've been blocked by.

[Interviewer 2]

What did you do to get blocked by the guest?

[Alex Danko]

So we don't know. We've decided not to look into it. Some things are best left as mystery in life. But we, we. We reserve the right to find out later.

[Interviewer 1]

I've been blocked by people. Had to apologize. I don't exactly know why I got blocked, but, you know, you always live to live to fight another day. Anyway, could have been an accident.

[Interviewer 2]

His thumb could have slipped.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, it's possible. So what's at the top of the to do list today, this week, this month? What are you going to be doing for Andreessen Horowitz?

[Alex Danko]

So I'm coming on board. Eric brought me into this amazing group of people he is putting together. Not to be understated and also not complete. There's more. Eric has more work to do yet. I'm coming on board to help. Yeah, job's not finished. I'm coming on to help make all of the written content coming out of Andreessen be truly world class and as good as it can be. I think a lot of people on the Internet know me from my writing online. I've been a blogger for a long time, despite having done other things like be a founder. I've worked in VC before. I've been at Shopify for five years. But you know, most people, I think, know me just from, you know, writing and mouthing off on the Internet and generally doing the craft that has been Internet blogging. Right. Which is just a. A really amazing and valuable part of tech that has been around for such a long time. You know, I. A really formative conversation in my career was, you know, once upon a time when I was a founder, my co founder and I were trying to figure out how to launch a product. We didn't know what was involved in that or what that meant. And we went to a more experienced founder, our friend Amanda, and said, hey, you know, what do we do? How do we launch this product? And she said, oh, well, I think you should email your email list and say, hey, we're going to go and do this. Tell us what you like, tell us where we should reach you, tell us, get lots of feedback on all these things and then they'll help you out. And I said, wait, wait, wait, stop. What do you mean email your email list? What's an email list? She's like, oh, you don't have thousands of fans that adore you and wait for your every email every week? And I was like, I need to be someone with one of those.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah.

[Alex Danko]

So ever since then, yeah, writing and newsletters and just the craft of having something to say has been a really important part of how I've always, you know, thought about how to be a great live player on the Internet.

[Interviewer 1]

How do you think about breaking through with text? Because the link ban on X is tough. AI is going to. Yeah, yeah. Should you just lean into more of the formats? I mean, there's certain amounts of, like, you can just be built different. Like Chris pike, who just drops a link to a Google Doc and it always works. Somehow people do screenshot.

[Interviewer 2]

Something that stands out to me and why I'm excited for you to take this new role is I was having this thought yesterday. I was reading some particularly, like, sloppy AI generated text, and I was just. I was like, yes, the models are going to get better. But, like, in a few years, like, at what point is, like, all the text that you're reading online and throughout your day just generated and there's no soul and craft put into it? And it's like you can still. You can remove hyphens and delve. And it's not this. It's. You're not this. You're that, like, language. And you can still identify writing today. And I. And I just think, like, craft, like, the craft of writing and thinking clearly and coming up with. Trying to come up with new ideas is super important. It's Lindy.

[Alex Danko]

Very Lindy. Yeah. So I like to think of it is that writing is power transfer technology, right? When you do it, it takes a lot of work to write something down. And it takes work to read something, right? It takes more work to read something than to listen to it. But the important thing that happens is that as you put in the work to write and as you put into work to read, what happens is actually reshapes your brain a little bit. It reshapes your understanding of what you're talking about such a way that the person writing can actually transfer some legitimacy to the person reading, right? They can actually speak to this thing. They have words for something that they knew but, like, didn't quite know how to say before. And that gives them power, right? And it doesn't work the same way when you're talking, right? There is this fabulous complementary kind of media called podcasts, which is listen for three hours and hear about all these great things. But to me, podcasts are an invitation to go find out something more. But if you actually want to do that power transfer, right, from the writer to the reader and give them something that gives them that power, like, you got to write it down, right? And if you think about this for the job of a vc Firm. Right. It's like, what is the job of vc? The job of VC is literally you are the legitimacy bank. Right. Your job is to make founders powerful. Right. And having an amazing free tier of that by saying, we think a lot about these things. We want to give you words to express what you're trying to say so that a client, a hire, an investor will take you a little more seriously is really important to do, you know. So that's a big part of why we want to emphasize the goal is to give founders power. This is the job of the whole firm. And writing is just pretty good part of that.

[Interviewer 1]

When I think about writing at a 16z, I think of a few buckets. There's a ton because the firm's written a lot for a long time. I think about maybe it was like a decade ago, but I don't know how often it still happens. But the general partner who does the deal writes basically a deal memo and says, this is why we're investing in this company. And that's very interesting. There's also the Marc Andreessen op ed in the Wall Street Journal. Software is eating the world. It's time to build these like big like, just like, you know, bombs on the timeline that drop and stick around for a long time. Then there's the market map, which is, it's been maligned, but I think it's deeply underrated. It's a time honored tradition And I think VCs are in a unique position to actually put out great content there. And I've actually really enjoyed digging into those as we've been doing the show. And then there's also like the wild card ones. Like I remember Andreessen used to do these interviews with founders in the portfolio. Just basically like, it's like what's your everyday carry but in the digital world. So it was like, what apps are you running? What tools are you using? Those are really cool. So there's a ton of stuff and I, I probably mentioned I missed like half of it, but maybe even more. But what's exciting to you, what's interesting, what kind of formats are you do you see as like fertile ground to go explore if you've had the time to think about it so far?

[Alex Danko]

Yeah. So I'll tell you what I think is a really interesting meta that I'm going to spend a lot of time going after is speech writing.

[Interviewer 1]

Okay.

[Alex Danko]

Speechwriting is an interesting and kind of thrown by the wayside craft because now when you think about long form, it's like when you are Interesting. And you have something to say. You can go on a podcast, you can talk for a long time, or you are going to tweet about it, right? But there is something that is missing of the craft of like putting in an extraordinary amount of tortured effort into creating, you know, like a 5,000 word delivery of what is it that you have to say this year? Right? And if you're a gp, right, it's like, hey, you know, you get time and perspective to figure out like this year, what is the core thing that you want to say, right. That is going to help inform all the other content, frankly. And like, people like Catherine at A16Z are also already incredible at this. And bringing that sort of to more throughout the culture is going to be important either way though. So you mentioned all these different types of content.

[Interviewer 2]

Yes, speech is incredibly underrated. We utilize them internally with the team and they're not every week. They're not on a schedule. But sometimes you need a speech. You just nail it and they can really set the tone and the energy within the company.

[Interviewer 1]

I'm getting chills thinking about Marc Andreessen standing on stage in front of thousands of people saying, we chose to raise this growth fund not because it is easy, but because it is hard.

[Alex Danko]

Because it's hard to test the ability of our LPs, the capital market, to measure them against the why you go.

[Interviewer 2]

To the moon to test the health of global capital markets.

[Interviewer 1]

There will never be enough venture capital. I mean, yeah, like a. Well, a well defined phrase. Andreessen has been fantastic coinages. And I feel like, yeah, the speeches. That's an interesting answer. I was not expecting that, but that makes a ton of sense.

[Alex Danko]

Well, it's good to buy low on things. I think buying low on speeches is your daily tip.

[Interviewer 1]

That's great. That's great. Where else should we go with this?

[Interviewer 2]

I think, I think speeches could be an entirely new launch video. Meta. Right, Everybody, like the barn burners launch, everybody has a launch video. There's like three new launch videos every day. A lot of them like blur together because they're cool graphics and this person invested. And here's this product ui and if you just have the CEO just like rant at the camera and you can get people to like, truly listen to that, it probably ends up being pretty powerful.

[Alex Danko]

Those kinds of things can go viral in really powerful ways because it tells people that you have something to say. Right? And it's doubly important because you talked about all these different forms of writing that are all great in their own way. And the one thing that they all have in common is. I'll tell you what all bloggers know, right, about writing is you have two audiences, right? The first audience is the people who actually read what you said, which is small. The second audience is the people that they tell that thing, right? Because they get something out of retelling it, right? Like, they get that legitimacy, they get that ability to express themselves or whatever. And there is a trade between the writer and the inner circle of people who are going to actually listen to that speech or actually read that thing all the way through. And something that was great about the old VC blogging meta way back in the day. So 10, 12, 15 years ago, when, you know, like, AVC was cooking and Semel Shah and Mark Schuster and people like that is the way a blog worked. Like, the microstructure of blogging was you had a blog and you had readers and a comment section, and everybody came to your blog and the readership would be there. And the way that you would tell what blogs were good was you would have lots of comments, right? And that's where your primary readership would then go and invisibly tell other people about it. Then the feed emerged, right? We got Twitter, we got hacker news, where we got places where suddenly the discussion moved in public. And what happened then is that, first of all, the ability to reach a secondary audience exploded. So the returns to writing only got bigger, but it became less obvious to do the trade became a little bit obscured by virtue of the fact that it's all in public and it's all based on how many retweets and likes you get. And I think what's happening now, as we go even further past this, is that the returns to writing and reading have never been more valuable, but never been less obvious.

[Interviewer 2]

Mm.

[Alex Danko]

So, you know, it's time to go. If you. If you go, bring the output of a firm as legendary as a 16Z, with all the amazing things they have to say and the statements of record that they want to put out into the world. You know, my job is to go help Eric and the whole GP crew and Ben and Mark, bring this back and make it amazing again. Making a really, like, a brand that's going to shine.

[Interviewer 2]

I can't wait for your first software is eating the world moment also.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, I mean, I feel like the speech thing really ties into the new A16Z brand. Like, when I see the coin, I.

[Alex Danko]

Feel like that's like the art deco coin with abacus.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah. I feel like speed is kind of Art deco in some ways. I don't know why I'm making that association, but it feels somewhat linked, like a bygone era.

[Alex Danko]

Or is it a Bozaar? Right. Do you remember the line? It's like art deco is made by dwarves, Bozar is made by elves.

[Interviewer 1]

Yeah, but it's very. What is it? The style. It was Randian. And I feel like in Ayn Rand's writing, there's a lot of speeches that happen throughout the book, so.

[Alex Danko]

There sure are. Famously.

[Interviewer 1]

Makes sense. Yeah, famously. Anyway, thank you so much for hopping on. Congratulations on the trade deal. Congratulations on the move and excited to see your work. Seeing your work and hearing it.

[Alex Danko]

Thank you for having me on, guys.

[Interviewer 2]

Come on and give a speech soon.

[Alex Danko]

Absolutely.

[Interviewer 2]

Speech. Speech. Speech. Speech. Speech.

[Interviewer 1]

Speech. Let's hit.

[Interviewer 2]

Thank you, Alex. Take care, everybody, for a new Cheers.

[Podcast Host / Narrator]

Thanks for listening to the A16Z podcast. If you enjoyed the episode, let us know by leaving a [e-mail] a16z. We've got more great conversations coming your way. See you next time. This information is for educational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy, hold, or sell any investment or financial product. This podcast has been produced by a third party and may include paid promotional advertisements, other company references, and individuals unaffiliated with A16Z. Such advertisements, companies and individuals are not endorsed by AH Capital Management, LLC, A16Z or any of its affiliates. Information is from sources deemed reliable on the date of publication, but A16Z does not guarantee its accuracy.