[jtzhou]

> AH almost certainly beats 10% annually.

AH was started in July 2009, at the start of a bull market. Since that period, the S&P 500 has had an annualized return, with dividends reinvested, of 17.2%. http://dqydj.net/sp-500-return-calculator/ This is significantly better than AH which has much greater single-sector risk (early stage/small cap, Bay Area, technology companies with little to no earnings). And AH at least by many sources is a "best-of-the-best" VC, so woe to the less successful VC's.

Whether they are good at intangibles, such as training future CEO's, providing jobs to highly-networked individuals, and encouragement to founders, is less relevant from an investor's standpoint.

[ajju]

"This is significantly better than AH which has much greater single-sector risk"

Are you saying a16z will make less than 17.2% per year in average returns on the years 2009-2015? Want to bet?

[ironchef]

That information is definitely not public, so he's just guessing. One could look at some of a16z's hits and show they have done well at least in some cases. 50 mil into skype which they made into an estimated 150 - 170. They were one of nicira's biggest backers who sold to vmware for north of a billion. They were investors in Facebook, etc.

[dylanjermiah]

Any source on AH's returns from 2009-present?