Chris Dixon | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Dixon in 2022 | |
| Born | 1971 or 1972 (age 52–53) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Columbia University (BA) Harvard University (MBA) |
| Title | General Partner,Andreessen Horowitz |
Chris Dixon (born 1971/1972)[1] is an American internet entrepreneur and investor. He is a general partner at theventure capital firmAndreessen Horowitz. He is also the co-founder and former CEO ofHunch.[2] Dixon is known as acryptocurrency andWeb3 evangelist.[3]
Dixon grew up in Ohio.[4] He earned a BA and an MA fromColumbia University, majoring inphilosophy,[5] and has an MBA fromHarvard Business School. His early college days were atWesleyan University before he transferred.[6]
Dixon joined theventure capital firmBessemer Venture Partners.[7]
In 2005, Dixon co-foundedSiteAdvisor, a web-security startup that was bought by security companyMcAfee in 2006.[8] In 2009, he foundedHunch withCaterina Fake and Tom Pinckney, which was acquired by eBay in 2011.[9]
As of 2022, Dixon is a general partner atAndreessen Horowitz, aventure capital firm inMenlo Park, California. After joining the firm in 2012,[3] Dixon led a variety of investments for the firm includingFiftyThree,[10]Soylent,[11] andNootrobox.[12] He sits[when?] on the board of3D printing startupShapeways.[13]
Dixon became an early advocate for investments inBitcoin, which he championed in various blog posts that became "something of a gospel among young crypto entrepreneurs."[3] By 2014, Andreessen Horowitz had invested almost $50 million into Bitcoin-related endeavors such as the cryptocurrency exchangeCoinbase.[14][3] In 2022,Fortune called Dixon "the world's top crypto investor."[15] In an October 2022 article titled "Andreessen Horowitz Went All In on Crypto at the Worst Possible Time", the Wall Street Journal reported that during the first half of 2022, the cryptocurrency fund founded by Dixon at Andreessen Horowitz had lost around 40% of its value, a decline "much larger than the 10% to 20% drops recorded by other venture funds, which have largely avoided the risky practice of purchasing volatile cryptocurrencies."[3]
With Dixon as a General Partner overseeing his firm's crypto investments,[16] in October 2022 he announced a new accelerator program to support crypto startups in Los Angeles.[17]
Dixon also led the firm's investment and sits on the board ofOculus VR.[18]
Dixon's bookRead Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet was published in January 2024. It was at No. 9 on the New York Times Best Sellers List for Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction for the period ending February 18, 2024, though with a dagger to indicate bulk purchases.[19] The book did not appear on any NYT lists in subsequent weeks. Andreesen Horowitz staff admitted to Vice that several of their portfolio companies had bulk-purchased the book.[20] The book received mixed reviews.[21][22]
