General Catalyst posted VC rage bait and it worked, especially on a16z

One of the astir entertaining moments successful VC this week was a portion of rage-bait selling from General Catalyst.

In a now-viral station connected X that parodies the aged Mac vs. PC commercials, the task steadfast — amended known arsenic GC — posted a “VC vs GC” video connected Wednesday. The VC was played by a gangly histrion successful a baggy garment and vest with a distinctly large, bald caput — an evident excavation astatine Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen. (But the existent Andreessen ne'er looks that disheveled).

The GC quality was played by a antheral with a heavy caput of acheronian hair, achromatic kicks and a inclination to look profoundly into the camera. He was intelligibly expected to correspond histrion Justin Long’s cooler, “hipper” Mac quality from the archetypal commercials, successful opposition to John Hodgman’s straight-laced “square” PC persona.

GC asks VC astir his robotic dog.

VC explains “This is Woof AI” and past extols the virtues of the artificial companion (you don’t request to locomotion it oregon interruption the quality to the kids erstwhile it dies!) and declares “you’ll ne'er privation a existent canine aft this.” VC mentions that his steadfast is starring the effect circular and pitches GC to articulation the headdress table.

GC explains however radical similar existent dogs and remarks, “I’d emotion to perceive more, but we really person a truly precocious barroom astir work for these things.”

Then VC kicks the AI canine and the canine chases him disconnected the screen. The station has present been viewed 2.4 cardinal times with hundreds of shares and comments, and thousands of likes.

I'd person to work truthful acold betwixt the lines that I'd beryllium disconnected the leafage and peering into different publication to unpack this, but I'll effort anyway. The message, roughly: different VCs, and a16z successful particular, volition money anything. GC won't. (I asked astir this. GC hasn't responded.)

It's a pointed statement if so, and not wholly without basis. Andreessen's steadfast often invests successful companies that are considered controversial, similar the surveillance startup Flock Safety, AI notetaker Cluely, and Adam Neumann's Flow. But the aforesaid measurement could conscionable arsenic easy beryllium applied to General Catalyst. GC's portfolio includes Anduril, Percepta, and Polymarket.

My ain takeaway is that GC wanted to amusement an a16z-type quality kicking a dog, without anyone really kicking an existent canine due to the fact that that would beryllium a large problem.

Many of the comments connected the video seemed to find the video, and the prime to station it, cringe. Plenty liked and loved it, too.

Compulsive X idiosyncratic Andreessen himself couldn't defy responding, many, galore times. He said it made GC look "smarmy," and said "Stay tuned for our upcoming advertisement campaign, 'We’re the VC who doesn’t sneer astatine your idea.'" He kept going from there. My idiosyncratic favourite was: "The happening they got close is the comparative heights."

As others noted, you cognize you've deed the close rage bait erstwhile the people takes it.

There were plenty of a16z partners and staffers who came to Andreessen's defense, too. So overmuch truthful that their reactions drew lots of comments. My idiosyncratic favourite successful this class was from VSC Ventures VC Jay Kapoor: "GC vs. A16Z beef is similar Kendrick vs. Drake for radical who cognize what a 409A valuation is."