From New York Times opinion, I'm Ross Douthat, and this is a matter of opinion.

So listeners, you're going to be hearing more from me over the next couple of months, because I'm going to be hosting some one-on-one conversations to help you, and quite frankly, me, understand the factions and the players that are likely to shape the incoming Trump administration.

And today, we're going to start with Silicon Valley and the so-called tech right.

I'm someone who follows politics primarily and Silicon Valley secondarily.

And to me, the alliance between that industry and the Democratic Party has always seemed like a pretty solid fact of American politics.

I could definitely see the leaders of the tech industry

souring on certain aspects of progressive politics, especially the parts that cast them as

special villains. But I really didn't expect so many figures in Silicon Valley, starting, of course,

with Elon Musk, to throw their support and their money and their

social media clout behind Donald Trump in 2024.

My guest today is one of those tech leaders, venture capitalist Mark Andresen.

For decades, he was, in his words, a good Democrat.

But now, he's been spending time at Mar-a-Lago and advising on the Trump transition.

Mark Andreessen, welcome to Matter of Opinion.

Thank you, Ross. It's great to be here.

It's great to have you.

So I'll start by introducing you.

You're the co-founder of the venture capital firm, Andresen Horowitz, whose portfolio

includes Airbnb and over 100 AI companies. A long time ago, you co-founded Netscape, the web browser

that first brought many of us to the internet in the 1990s. And just as a political matter, you supported Barack Obama for

president. You voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. And then in 2024, you supported Donald Trump.

And we're going to talk about that evolution. But I wanted to start by just going way back in time to the origins of your career,

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