a16z hires former Republican congressman Patrick McHenry as advisor

Former North Carolina congressman Patrick McHenry announced Wednesday that he landed a job with VC firm Andreessen Horowitz. He will be a senior advisor. His post on X said little about what the job entails, except to be advocating for startups (which a16z likes to call “little tech”) with policymakers. Andreessen Horowitz did not immediately respond to a request for comment. McHenry spent 20 years in Congress before retiring in January. As chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, he was perhaps best known for dressing down then SEC chair Gary Gensler. Gensler had particularly become a boogeyman in the crypto world, filing lawsuits against crypto exchanges like Coinbase and threatening to sue others like Robinhood. The current SEC is busy dropping those suits and investigations. “Under Chair Gensler, the SEC has become a rogue agency,” said McHenry during a hearing in September, accusing the SEC chair of “regulation by enforcement.” Meanwhile, a16z, which has raised $7. ... Read full article.