Angel investor to join Andreessen
Pinterest, Skype backer also involved in starting Hunch
SAN FRANCISCO — Chris Dixon, the entrepreneur behind recommendation service Hunch and Web security company SiteAdvisor, will join Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz in January, he and the firm said Monday.
Dixon, 40, has substantial experience with extremely young companies in the “angel” phase. His angel investments have included online phone service Skype, acquired by eBay; crowdfunding site Kickstarter; and online bulletin board- service Pinterest.
“He’s built a real reputation among the entrepreneurs as one of the most helpful guys, the one everyone wants,” as a backer, Andreessen Horowitz cofounder Marc Andreessen said in an interview.
In addition to his personal investments, Dixon serves as an adviser to Founder Collective, a $ 40 million early- stage venture fund founded in 2009 by a handful of mainly East- Coast based entrepreneurs, including Dixon. He will still support those investments, Dixon said.
Dixon said he will now be focusing on companies further along the growth track as well as companies at the very earliest stages.
The Andreessen team has known Dixon for several years, co- investing with him on a handful of deals such as Pinterest. Separately, Marc Andreessen sits on the board of eBay, which bought Dixon’s Hunch last year.
The Andreessen position will not be Dixon’s first at an established venture firm.
He previously worked at Bessemer Venture Partners, a firm whose investments have included Skype, Mountain View professional- networking site LinkedIn, and office supplies retailer Staples.
Hiring Dixon brings the total number of general partners at Menlo Park- based Andreessen, one of Silicon Valley’s fastestgrowing venture businesses, to seven.
The firm was created by Andreessen and software company Opsware co- founder Ben Horowitz in 2009 with a $ 300 million fund. Earlier this year, it closed on a $ 1.5 billion fund.
In September, the firm said former Washington, D. C., Mayor Adrian Fenty would join the firm as a special adviser, joining former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers in that role.
Dixon said he plans to move to the Bay Area for his new job, but will continue to invest heavily in New York for Andreessen Horowitz.
He also will retain an East Coast escape hatch — “I’m going to keep my apartment in New York,” he said.
AllThingsD. com previously reported that Andreessen and Dixon were in talks.