Today we are excited to announce that Eddy Lazzarin is being promoted to General Partner at a16z crypto.
Eddy joined us in 2019 as a data scientist and investing partner, not long after we launched our first crypto fund. From the beginning, people sought him out for the hardest questions, partly because of his technical depth, but just as much because of how he approaches problems. Eddy has a rare ability to cut through complexity and make clear, well-reasoned calls even when the answers aren’t obvious.
In 2023, Eddy became CTO, taking on a broader role leading the engineering, data science, research, and security teams he helped build from the ground up. Together with these teams, he drove the development of Jolt, a groundbreaking open-source zkVM that represents an important breakthrough in advancing blockchains.
Eddy has also become one of the industry’s clearest thinkers on token design and classification. His work helped establish a standard framework for understanding how different tokens work, including where value accrues, how control gets exercised, and how incentives shape behavior. He has influenced many founders, investors, and policymakers in DC with his carefully considered models of how systems behave in reality and not just on paper.
Founders consistently turn to Eddy for his input and involvement on their most complex challenges. He can engage at the level of code and mechanism design, but he’s equally adept at grappling with the highest levels of abstraction. He asks the right questions, pushes on weak assumptions, and helps teams find the path that is both ambitious and practical. As crypto systems scale and are more broadly adopted, the kind of judgment Eddy exemplifies becomes even more critical.
Eddy’s perspective on where technology is going and how markets and culture form around new technologies has also made him invaluable to our investing team. He has a strong point of view on what will and won’t work, the instincts to recognize the right opportunities, and the discipline to follow through. In his new role as General Partner, he will focus on our portfolio and token strategy, and on strengthening how we identify, evaluate, and support the most important new crypto networks and companies, including as we invest our recently announced Crypto Fund 5.
Eddy has already helped build much of what makes a16z crypto unique, and I’m excited to see him bring the same rigor, judgment, creativity, and care to the role of GP.
Congratulations, Eddy.
***
Chris Dixon is founder and managing partner of a16z crypto.
***
The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the current or enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation. In addition, this content may include third-party advertisements; a16z has not reviewed such advertisements and does not endorse any advertising content contained therein.
You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly as well as unannounced investments in publicly traded digital assets) is available at https://a16z.com/investment-list/.
The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures/ for additional important information.