Personal Brand: Chris Lyons, a16z General Partner, on Being Entrepreneur-First

At Kauffman Fellows, we define Personal Brand as the “Promise of the Experience” when interacting with you as an investor. In this episode, Kauffman Fellows CEO, Jeff Harbach, chats with a Kauffman Fellow who is extremely well known for his personal brand as a mentor and role model in VC, Chris Lyons (Andreessen Horowitz General Partner) who leads the firm’s Cultural Leadership Fund (CLF). Chris discusses his impact at a16z, which is rooted in creating win-win opportunities across the cultural influencer and startup ecosystem, while also bringing more Black talent, executives, and professionals into technology. On being entrepreneur-first, Chris shares: “VC is the ultimate service industry. Remove all the financial situations, or what's in it for me, and take the opportunity that you're in as an opportunity to serve.” On building his personal brand as someone who shows up for those around him, he shares: "A brand is not necessarily what you think you are, but what people say about you when you're not in the room."