> When someone says regulation is stifling innovation What they mean is SOX and regulation around IPOs and SPACs. This has been a significant sticking point o

> When someone says regulation is stifling innovation What they mean is SOX and regulation around IPOs and SPACs. This has been a significant sticking point of A16Z's leadership (and other VCs) for 15 years now. Most startups funded in the 2010s have decided to remain private, take an acquisition, or continue to raise later and later stage rounds (eg. Stripe, Databricks), which has impacted the amount of capital funds like A16Z, Accel, Sequoia, etc can deploy, and tends to benefit traditional IBs like JPM, GS, Barclays, etc. This is why A16Z and YC backed LTSE, and supported SPACs for the brief window they were opened. There is a need for compliance, but liquidity is starting to become difficult to realize for early stage investors. > VC money is fueling a global boom in worker surveillance tech Their definition for "surveillance tech" is broad, and includes a significant portion of the Security, Compliance, and Defense startups which are often required by legislators or insurers due to breaches (eg. Snowflake). Generally speaking, we fund startups if they are solving a problem we have heard about from our peers AND that it has a tangible TAM that can justify later stage participants.