Chris Dixon from a16z announces free crypto startup school at TechCrunch Disrupt
Chris Dixon, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, announced a new crypto-related startup school at TechCrunch Disrupt today in San Francisco.
Dixon says that the firm is not looking for equity, but really wants to provide a way to teach some best practices in the emerging field of crypto currency. "We are going to run a startup school for crypto-specific startups and what we've learned over the last 7 years as best practices in this category," Dixon told TechCrunch's Josh Constine on stage today.
The company doesn't intend to charge any money, nor will it take any equity in the companies that participate. In Dixon's words, they are doing this to push the category forward and help crypto startups get going. He hopes that based on the good will of offering this education for free, that startups who participate may end up having a conversation with a16z about possibly getting an investment, but he made clear that this absolutely was not a requirement.
Last year, the firm made its commitment to crypto clear when it established a crypto fund run by Dixon and Katie Haun. Dixon told TechCrunch at the time of that announcement that his firm had already invested in 20 crypto companies over the previous five years, including Ripple and Coinbase way back in 2013, prior to establishing a fund devoted to crypto.
The company has set up a page on the company website for companies interested in signing up for the crypto startup school.