Andreessen Horowitz GP Scott Weiss Won’t Be Investing Next Fund

This morning, former IronPort Systems cofounder and CEO Scott Weiss announced that he’s no longer going to be investing in new companies on behalf of Andreessen Horowitz, the Sand Hill Road venture firm.

Weiss had joined AH in March 2011 as its fourth general partner.

Weiss isn’t the first partner to step back at the now 6.5-year-old firm. Its third general partner after cofounders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz — John O’Farrell — also stepped out of an investing role back in 2013.

An earlier hire, Balaji Srinivasan, who was brought into the firm in December 2013, has since become the CEO of 21, a bitcoin company that he’d cofounded before joining the venture outfit. (Srinivasan was originally expected to play an advisory role to 21; the firm says it was Srinivasan’s decision to instead join 21 in as its chief executive early last year.)

The firm currently has nine GPs altogether, including its newest hire, Vijay Pande, who is leading the firm’s charge into biotech investing. Pande joined in November. The firm also recently hired TrialPay founder Alex Rampell to focus largely on fintech.

It would seem to us that Andreessen Horowitz, which has raised ginormous funds every couple of years, is moving around some pieces as it gears up to raise (or perhaps close?) a new fund. However, asked about that several months ago, managing director Scott Kupor told us that wasn’t the case. “We haven’t made any decisions yet about when we’ll raise another [fund]. We literally haven’t even sat down to start thinking about it.”

Things can change quickly, of course, as Weiss’s news shows.

Using the company’s blog to announce the news, Weiss writes that he has “struggled to find the right balance between work and the rest of my life,” and that “despite my best intentions, too often my family has gotten shortchanged.”

Adds Weiss, ” I’ve now reached a point where I’ve decided to shift the equation. I’m not leaving the firm; instead, I’ll focus the majority of my work hours on my existing board seats. The rest of my time will belong to my family.”

You can read his update in its entirely below. In the meantime, we’ve reached out to the firm and will update this post when we can.

Like many people, over the course of my career I’ve struggled to find the right balance between work and the rest of my life, and, despite my best intentions, too often my family has gotten shortchanged. I’ve now reached a point where I’ve decided to shift the equation. I’m not leaving the firm; instead, I’ll focus the majority of my work hours on my existing board seats. The rest of my time will belong to my family.

In many ways, this was an easy decision. I have three kids who are gearing up for college, and in less than five years, they will all be out of the house. The time with them is very precious, and it doesn’t escape me how lucky I am to be able to choose to be with them while I can.

I’m grateful that my partners have embraced my desire to refocus my priorities right now. I’m excited that I work with a group of such generous team players whom I deeply respect.

Andreessen Horowitz started as an audacious blueprint for a new type of venture capital firm. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved so far and am excited to continue building the vision that Marc and Ben, as former founders, had to create the firm “that we would want to raise money from”.