a16z lays off its talent team: your VC is not your recruiter
34 people for more than 1,000 portfolio companies. Why founders should build their own hiring machine early and keep investors for the few intros that matter.
a16z just laid off most of its talent team. 34 people for more than 1,000 portfolio companies.
The news broke in Axios last week. Those who remain are being moved into the investment teams (growth, crypto), which will each build their own talent pool.
Brian Fink, twenty years of recruiting at Twitter, AWS and Apple, did the math: about 30 companies per person. At that ratio, you're no longer recruiting. You forward profiles, organize dinners, make intros. He calls it a switchboard.
It's not an isolated case. Sequoia had already cut its portfolio talent team by about a third in 2023.
What I take from it, as a founder: your fund is not your recruiting function. It never really was.
The founders who hire well had understood that. They built their own machine early, and kept their investors for the two or three intros that really change the game.
