A16Z's global investing strategy centers on "borderless founders"—international entrepreneurs with global ambitions, often driven by a desire to prove their capabilities regardless of origin. Unlike founders in the U.S. who benefit from an "everything-as-a-service" ecosystem, borderless founders in many other markets must build core infrastructure from scratch (e.g., fraud detection, KYC).
The firm's international focus began with Angela Strange's interest in underserved markets, sparked by the success of Nubank in Brazil. She realized that while setting up was harder, "wide open markets" offered immense opportunities. Gabriel Vasquez further developed this, identifying key founders across Latin America and creating a WhatsApp group for connection and deal flow. These early successful founders, like Santiago Suarez of Adi (now serving a quarter of Colombia's population), often combined U.S. education/experience with deep local market understanding.
The rise of AI has further shaped this strategy. While AI democratizes technology, it also concentrates the epicenter of rapid innovation in the Bay Area. This led international founders to seek integration and connections in Silicon Valley, shifting A16Z's focus from traveling to meet them to bringing them to the Bay Area.
A16Z supports these founders through initiatives like "borderless dinners," connecting them with successful diaspora members (e.g., Guillermo Rauch of Vercel, Pedro Francesi of Brex) who "pay it forward." This mirrors the power of alumni networks, leveraging the "culture of giving" prevalent in Silicon Valley, amplified by national affinity. Borderless founders are distinct from general immigrant founders in their explicit global ambition and often a "chip on their shoulder" from growing up in overlooked or smaller regions.
These founders possess three key "native advantages":
1. **Talent:** They have access to differentiated, often overlooked, talent pools in their home countries (e.g., specific universities or robotics competitions). They can also attract top-tier talent back from abroad by building companies that are "the hottest" in their region (e.g., Adi in Colombia).
2. **Brand:** Their companies can become symbols of national pride, garnering government support (e.g., Eleven Labs in Poland, Jeeves in Brazil). This provides significant validation and a head start in securing large enterprise clients both domestically and internationally.
3. **Customer Base:** Borderless founders can secure early, substantial contracts with large enterprises in their home markets or other international regions (e.g., Factor Labs in Latin America, Supersonic with Salesforce). This "design partnership" can then accelerate their entry into the U.S. market. Conversely, U.S.-based companies can also achieve early growth by selling into markets with less competition for cutting-edge technology, as seen with Cognition in Brazil.
A16Z actively accelerates this "preferential attachment" by identifying "local luminaries" – highly respected individuals who foster their local ecosystems (e.g., Frederick Yeom in Sweden). They also map "rising stars" (like Gabriel Peterson from Sweden now at OpenAI) to connect new founders with successful peers. For early-stage founders, A16Z assists with critical needs like visas, provides access to "hacker houses" (like Palo House), and connects them with potential customers or strategic partners globally.
The firm also focuses on repeat founders who, having built successful companies (often with $1-5 billion outcomes), are now driven to build even larger, more globally dominant ventures, leveraging their accumulated knowledge and networks.
Looking ten years ahead, Angela and Gabriel hope to see continued growth in borderless founders, leading to a more diverse set of minds building larger companies worldwide. They anticipate a significant increase in venture returns originating outside Silicon Valley, with more "dual-country" companies that are proudly claimed by two or more nations.