Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has appointed Raghu Raghuram, former CEO of VMware, as its newest General Partner. Raghuram, who led VMware from 2021 to 2023, will take on multiple roles at the firm, spanning AI infrastructure, growth strategy and overall management.
Ben Horowitz, cofounder of a16z, recalled hiring Raghuram nearly 30 years ago at Netscape, where he was a product manager. Horowitz praised Raghuram’s intelligence, leadership, and eagerness to learn, noting that he quickly became one of the top product managers.
In a social media post, Horowitz mentioned Raghuram’s tenure at VMware, where he grew the company into a USD 13 billion platform serving more than 3,00,000 customers in over 60 countries, led transformative acquisitions including Nicira, and steered the company’s transition from on-premise to multi-cloud technology. He also guided VMware through its sale to Broadcom, described as the largest software exit ever.
At a16z, Raghuram will serve as a General Partner on the AI Infrastructure team, applying his infrastructure expertise; as a General Partner on the Growth team, supporting portfolio companies in scaling and global expansion; and as a Managing Partner and consigliere, assisting Horowitz in running the firm.
Horowitz called Raghuram “an amazing strategist and leader” and described his addition as “a giant step forward for Andreessen Horowitz.” |
